Everything is Copacetic
by blink182giirl
Summary: Modern AU in which Shisui and Itachi are FBI agents, Sasuke is a university student, the OC is a journalist, and there's a serial killer on the loose in Konoha City. Mature themes ahead as always. [Shisui/OC story]
1. Chapter 1

_***See author's note at the end. I also blame my beta for any and all typos that I very likely missed lmao***_

* * *

Hana Sarutobi really was trying to be quiet, okay? Seriously. She went out of her goddamn way to be silent as she scrambled out of the stranger's bed, totally naked, to search for her clothes and leave before he woke up and they ended up stuck in the awkward "morning after" conversation.

And she thought she had been doing a fairly decent job, except for the fact that she just couldn't find her stupid panties.

Like seriously. She went out last night in a bright red thong. There should have been no reason as to why she couldn't find it. And it wasn't even like the room was messy, because it wasn't. With the exception of their clothes strewn about from last night, the guy's room was almost spotless. The floor was a light hardwood, the walls a soft cream, hell. Even the bedsheets went with the light color scheme with them being a soft gray.

But nope. Even in the near immaculate room, her underwear was nowhere to be found.

So Hana abandoned that task and thought "fuck it" as she shimmied into her jeans from the night before, hooked her bra on with one hand, and shrugged into her black t-shirt.

"Man, you're loud in the morning."

She froze with her hand buried in her sandy brown hair and risked a look over her shoulder to see her one night stand stirring in the bed directly behind her.

His voice was hoarse and still thick with sleep while his unruly inky black hair stuck up in different directions.

"Sorry," she said right away. "I was hoping to be out of here so we wouldn't have to do _this_."

He yawned and sat up in the bed, the gray bedsheet pooling dangerously low around his bare hips.

"And what is 'this'?" He asked as a lopsided grin took over his face.

"The awkward morning after conversation," Hana answered, her eyes scanning the sparse room for her shoes and purse.

There was a chuckle from behind her as she leaned down to slip on her Vans before he spoke up again.

"You have experience with that?" His voice was still rough from sleep, but there was a lightness in his teasing tone that made her stomach flip.

Hana turned around to give him a half-hearted glare, but when her hazel eyes found his dark ones, her 'glare' only seemed to weaken.

There was just this mischievous little glint in his dark eyes that made her see flashes of the night before, and she remembered being totally charmed by his innocent little schoolboy act in an instant. She remembered being so charmed that she hadn't even thought twice about going home with him.

"Watch yourself," she said with a soft chuckle under her breath.

"I'd rather watch you get back into bed," he said right back.

Hana rolled her eyes but could feel the corner of her lips betray her and quirk upward without her permission.

"You practice that line in the mirror?" She shot back after she grabbed her purse from the floor and slung it over her shoulder.

His grin only widened and that twinkle in his eyes intensified.

"Why? Is it working?"

This time she couldn't help but scoff and she took a step closer to the door of his bedroom.

"No," she said. "Some of us can't lounge around in bed all day. Some of us have to go to work."

Whether they actually did or not, her words seemed to pique his interest, as he was cocking his head to the side and watching her carefully.

"Yeah? What do you do for work?"

Hana clicked her tongue and immediately shook her head as she said, "no way. It's a well-known rule that one night stands don't share that kind of information."

A soft breath that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a laugh escaped his mouth, and he held his hands up in defense.

"All right, all right," he straightened his back until it let out a satisfying crack. "I'll walk you out."

"Uh no," Hana said right away. She took another step closer to the bedroom door and shook her head. "I'm a big girl. I can walk myself out. Just tell me where to go."

"I never said you weren't." He raised one eyebrow above the other and smirked. "But fair enough. Go down the hall and make a left. The front door is right in the living room."

Hana nodded and gave him a once over one last time.

"Thanks for the sex," she said with a cheeky grin before all but running out of the room and slamming the door shut.

* * *

Shisui groaned in relief as he ducked his head under the stream of scalding hot water from his shower head. The water worked out the kinks in his back from the night before, and he flexed his arms and shoulders to work out any other knots that might have found their way into his muscles.

He could have spent the whole damn day under that stream of water.

But then there was the distinctive sound of Itachi banging on the bathroom door to rush him that made his thoughts come to an abrupt halt.

"Shisui, hurry up or else we're going to be late," Itachi said from the other side of the bathroom door.

Shisui let out a deep sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah!" He called out.

He stood there for a few more moments, soaking up the last of the burning water, and then turned it off and towel dried his hair and body.

When he stepped out of the shower, he loosely wrapped a towel around his hips and ran a hand through his damp hair, already feeling the curls beginning to form.

He was quick to get dressed, donning a pair of beige slacks with a belt, and a close fitted black polo. He then walked over to the other side of his bed, the side furthest from the door, and opened the drawer of the nightstand to grab his late father's watch.

As he slipped it on and fiddled with the clasp, his eyes caught sight of something on the floor, almost under the bed that was red and lacy?

Once he closed the clasp of his watch and the familiar weight of it settled around his wrist, he leaned down to pluck the thing off the floor.

The second he saw what it was, he let out a snicker, way too satisfied with himself.

His one night stand had left her panties at his place, which meant she had left that morning going commando.

That was kind of hot.

Shaking his head and dropping the girl's panties back on the floor to deal with later, he smoothed out his shirt and headed out of his room. His hair was still damp when he entered the living room, and Itachi was sitting on the dark sofa watching the news on a small TV.

"I trust you had a good evening," Itachi drawled, standing up with catlike grace before he clicked the TV off. He walked over to the coatrack that was hung on the wall and slipped into his blue nylon jacket with FBI printed in big yellow letters on the back.

Shisui gave him a cheesy grin and grabbed his own jacket and followed Itachi out of their apartment.

"I did," he said.

"That's the third one in less than two weeks," Itachi started. "When I said you needed to get over Yumi, I didn't mean you should go out and sleep with anyone with a pulse."

Shisui scoffed as they headed outside to catch the subway.

"I _am_ over her," he said. "I'm just having a little fun. Lighten up, would you?"

Itachi hummed and said, "it's been four months and you've probably slept with more people in that time than most of the frat guys at Sasuke's school."

They shouldered their way through crowds of people on the busy street and descended the stairs that led to the subway, going through the familiar motions of swiping their passes and waiting on the platform with hundreds of others hurrying to get to work.

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration," Shisui said.

"I don't," Itachi said right back.

"I'm just having a little fun," Shisui said. "And I'm always safe, so why does it matter?"

"It doesn't," Itachi said. "I'm just making an observation."

The train pulled up and he and Itachi stepped onto it, choosing a place to stand somewhat near the doors as there was no place to sit.

"Come on," Shisui said, nudging Itachi's elbow with his own. "You really think I should cool it?"

Itachi gave him a bored look. "A little."

Shisui nodded. "All right fine. I'll ease off."

"Good," Itachi said. "Besides, with this case, it sounds like neither of us will have any time to go out at all."

Shisui smirked. "I'll find time."

Itachi rolled his eyes but didn't say anything back.

It was quiet for a little bit longer, and unable to contain himself, Shisui grinned from ear to ear.

"That girl from last night left without her panties."

Itachi only huffed in annoyance and shook his head without saying a single word.

* * *

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't you, Sarutobi?"

Hana shot Genma a glare as she settled in the chair beside him before the meeting started.

They worked together at _Byakugan Times_ and for whatever reason, the newspaper's owner, Mr. Hiashi Hyuga, called a last minute meeting with all of the paper's writers. He didn't say what the meeting would be about in the email and didn't even say how long it would be. All the email said was that every writer was expected to be there, no exceptions.

"I woke up late," Hana said. She took a survey of everything as the last few people scurried through the frosted glass door and settled around the mahogany table that served as the conference room's centerpiece.

The room was on the minimalistic side, as most things at _Byakugan Times_ were. With the exception of the mahogany table (that probably cost more than what Hana made in a year) and the chairs around it, the room was empty. There were no awards hung up on the wall despite the fact the paper had plenty, there were no pieces of framed art—nothing at all.

Then again, Mr. Hyuga was a firm believer in letting your work and reputation speak for itself.

"I'm sure you did," Genma drawled as wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I saw you about to go home with that guy."

Hana snorted. "And I saw you _actually_ go home with that girl."

"She was a freak," Genma said, still smirking. "I've never slept with a contortionist before."

Before Hana could say anything back, Mr. Hyuga walked in and the words died on the back of her lungs.

"Good morning," he grunted. "You all have deadlines and I have a conference call to get on, so let's make this quick."

Hana idly toyed with her pen and tried to seem interested as he rattled off a few things about making deadlines, working on the online presence so the paper didn't die off and trying to stay "ahead of the changing times". As if there was some way to thrive in the dying newspaper business that didn't consist of selling your soul to social media and pumping out hundreds of bullshit stories every day.

Hana was just too hungover to pay attention. And seriously? _This_ was the important spiel he had to give at an impromptu meeting on a Friday morning? The same spiel he gave just about every week?

It was all she could do not to fall asleep. But that was before Mr. Hyuga went on.

"On a final note," Mr. Hyuga started. "I know you vultures have been on me left and right about covering the recent string of murders going on in the city."

That got Hana's attention. She narrowed her eyes and exchanged a curious look with Genma before she straightened her back in her seat.

"Normally, I'd say that topic is beneath _Byakugan Times,_ but it looks like it isn't for _The_ _Konoha Post_ and they've gone on and dubbed these murders the Ryuchi Killings." Mr. Hyuga's eyebrow twitched and his lips pursed into a firm line. "The public has lost their damn minds over it and it seems the police force has as well since they've adopted the damn name."

Hana stared and her mouth felt dry. She had read the article Mr. Hyuga was referring to, the one where the writers over at _The Post_ said the city was under the attack of a serial killer and named them the Ryuchi Killings. The idea behind the name being that each body had been discovered somewhere in Ryuchi Caves National Park, be it the caves themselves or the wetlands and forest surrounding them.

And Hana knew what Mr. Hyuga meant and where he was going with this. She could see it from a mile away and she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.

"I've decided that the _Byakugan Times _will be covering the story."

The response was immediate and almost palpable. The other writers looked at each other and grinned and whispered and plotted. And Mr. Hyuga was having absolutely none of it.

"Before you lot get any ideas," he drawled with a fierce scowl etched on his face. "I've already given the story to Yamato. So please refrain from your premature bloodbath."

The room fell silent in an instant, and Hana couldn't help it when she snorted.

"Yamato? You're giving the story to _Yamato_?" She deadpanned.

Mr. Hyuga's light eyes wheeled on her in an instant and his eyebrows arched high on his forehead.

"Is that a problem, Sarutobi?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Yamato echoed and Hana blatantly ignored him.

Genma kneed her hard under the table and she winced and kneed him back.

"I just think that picking someone seemingly at random for such a sought after story is—"

Mr. Hyuga didn't miss a beat and cut her off before she could even finish her sentence. "And here I thought that it was my decision who got which stories."

There was a chorus of stifled laughter from the other writers at the table and Hana's cheeks flamed, but that didn't deter her.

"I just think that maybe giving a story like this to someone with more experience—"

"And you have experience covering serial killers?" Yamato stated from across the table.

Hana bit down on the inside of her cheek and met his glare with one of her own and said an even, "maybe not serial killers but I have plenty of experience covering serious topics like this."

Yamato didn't even flinch and didn't seem to care that they were surrounded by their coworkers and peers when he said a smug, "no one cares about the Ame piece anymore, Hana."

Hana could have leapt across the table and throttled Yamato right there in front of their fellow writers and Mr. Hyuga himself had he not interrupted her silent rage and stopped her from doing so.

"As entertaining as this is, we all have work to do. You want the story, Sarutobi? Take it up with Yamato. I don't have time for this," Mr. Hyuga said with a tone of finality. "Does anyone else want to complain or are we quite finished here?"

None of the writers said anything else and Mr. Hyuga nodded.

"Good."

He was the first one out of the conference room, followed by other writers that looked amused with Hana, annoyed with Yamato, or both. She sat back in her chair and stared Yamato down from the other side of the table and Genma nudged her with his elbow.

"You got a death wish?" He asked. "You can't talk to Mr. Hyuga like that."

She hardly even registered Genma's words because her thoughts were already occupied.

"I'm getting that story."

Genma groaned, "just leave it alone."

Hana watched as Yamato gathered his things and left the conference room, wearing an easy expression. She could just _feel_ how smug he was and it went right up her ass.

She let her body switch to autopilot as she gathered her things and returned with Genma to their respective cubicles.

She had to have that story. She just had to. Goddamnit, in the eight months that she had been back in Konoha City and working at _Byakugan Times _to appease her father, the only things she ever covered were celebrity weddings and their affairs and who wore what at some fancy red carpet event.

To say she had a negative interest in it would have been too kind.

Mr. Hyuga knew that too, but he still gave those topics to her because she was quick and she had the ability to pump out articles fast enough to meet the ridiculous demand for celebrity gossip. Mr. Hyuga himself didn't even like those types of stories, but he was at the mercy of the public in order to keep the paper alive in their dying industry.

Hana understood why he did what he did, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Especially not when she had the portfolio to prove she was above those stories.

Swiveling her chair around so she could talk to Genma, Hana grabbed her phone off the messy counter of her cubicle and cleared her throat to get her friend's attention.

Genma looked up from his laptop and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Raido. He's still at the station downtown, right?" She asked.

Genma could read her face and her words faster than she could even get them out and he was glaring at her and pointing his index finger at her like she was a kid in need of scolding.

"No. You leave Raido out of this," he warned.

Hana rolled her hazel eyes. "Oh come on. "

"No, I mean it," Genma started. "You leave him out of your schemes. He isn't one of your sources."

Hana waved her hand dismissively and began to type out a text to her old friend and Genma's roommate.

Before she could even push send, Genma rolled his chair over to her cubicle and plucked her phone out of her hand and glared.

"Hana—"

"Chill! I'm not going to hurt your precious little Raido. I'm just asking him a question," she teased.

Genma's brown eyes widened and he relinquished her phone with a scowl that rivaled even Yamato's from earlier.

"You've been too goddamn stir crazy ever since you got back," Genma muttered under his breath. He went back over to his cubicle and chewed furiously on his toothpick as he fumed. Hana shot him a grin, over the moon with her little victory and wasted no time sending her text to Raido.

"Can't imagine why," she said in a singsong voice.

"You actually make me insane," Genma said back. "I mean it, Hana. You leave him out of it. Ask him your question but you're not going to use him as a source. Got it?"

Hana looked up from her phone to see Genma's brown eyes trained on her, so she held her hands up to show she meant no harm.

"Got it," she said.

Genma frowned but turned back to his laptop at the same time she did.

She sighed and rested her hand on her chin as she pulled up a half-finished article on Tsunade Senju's upcoming wedding. She stared at the words on the screen with disdain.

Her eyes drifted to some of the pictures pinned to the wall of her cubicle and they lingered on one of her in a rainy village with her mentor. She couldn't help it when she sighed. She could almost feel the misty rain on her face if she just closed her eyes…

Her phoned buzzed and Hana's hand was faster than a snake to grab it, seeing the text from Raido.

'**Yeah, I'm still downtown. Why?'**

Her response was instant.

'**What do you know about the Ryuchi Killings? Tryin' to finesse a story from Yamato.'**

Her fingers tightened around the phone and she stared at the text chain, waiting and waiting and waiting…

'**For real? I can't tell you anything & you know that.'**

She clenched her jaw tight—too tight and typed back.

'**You owe me for last month.'**

Hana was vaguely aware of Genma staring her down through her peripheral vision, but he didn't interject as she read Raido's next text.

'**You'd hold that against me?'**

Her response was quick.

'**Never! But you still owe me and I'm calling in that favor now ;)'**

Raido didn't respond for a solid few minutes and Hana was just about to jump out of her skin when her friend finally texted back.

**'…'**

'**Naka Park. If you want something good you should get there soon.'**

It was all the information Hana needed. She threw her laptop into her work bag and swatted Genma on the arm, grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on. We're going to Naka Park."

* * *

Shisui and Itachi had been in Konoha City's downtown police station for all of ten minutes before the call came in.

Another body had been discovered in Naka Park—which technically was part of Ryuchi Caves National Park—and they were sent out without a second thought.

They hadn't even been fully introduced to their team when the call came in. Some poor jogger had been out midmorning and stumbled across a body. But as shitty as it was, at least it kept Shisui's Friday interesting.

So there he was with Itachi, walking down one of the dirt paths of Naka Park towards the terrified runner who was recounting her story to an officer.

"Never thought Konoha would be the place with a serial killer on the loose," Shisui said. He plunged his hands into the pockets of his nylon jacket that distinguished him as an FBI agent and went straight to where the body was.

"Neither did I," Itachi said. "But it's one of the largest cities in the country, so I suppose it makes sense."

Shisui frowned. "This kind of shit will never make sense to me."

He walked up to an officer standing behind CSI and nodded once as he extended a hand to the man.

"Shisui Uchiha, FBI," he introduced.

The man wore black sunglasses despite the fact that they were completely shaded by the towering trees above them, and planted his hands on his hips rather than shake Shisui or Itachi's hand.

"Itachi Uchiha," Itachi said, coming to stand beside Shisui.

The man frowned and said a tight, "Ebisu. I didn't know the feds were part of this now."

There it was. The inevitable _'you're a fed. I don't want to work with you' _bullshit that came with every single murder case Shisui and Itachi had ever been assigned to.

"Well it looks like you've got a serial killer on the loose, so we're here to help," Shisui said with ease.

Ebisu's eyebrows furrowed. "Is that what four seemingly unrelated murders are now? The work of a serial killer?"

Itachi beat Shisui to it, and good thing too since he was infinitely calmer than Shisui would have been.

"The victims have all been killed in a similar fashion. They're also all the same race, in the same age range, and they've all been college students. They've all been dumped in Ryuchi Caves National Park, and all of these murders have happened with significant time between them over the course of a few months. This is a textbook serial killer," Itachi said. His voice was even and almost relaxed, and it visibly unnerved Ebisu who was now pulled taut like a string.

To add insult to injury, Shisui added in a quick, "if the Bureau didn't believe this was a serial killer then we wouldn't be here." He couldn't help it when he smirked. "This is our specialty."

Ebisu frowned and crossed his arms but didn't argue after that.

"I guess this is what Chief Shimura meant when he said things were about to change," Ebisu said. He sighed and nodded at the body that CSI was in the process of photographing. "Gotta Iburi. Does kendo at the University of Konoha. Twenty-one years old. Supposed to graduate this year."

Shisui pursed his lips and walked closer to the body as he recounted facts of the other victims in his head.

"Does he have that mark on him?" Shisui asked.

"I don't know," Ebisu admitted.

Shisui shot Itachi a glance and then turned his attention to the photographer with CSI that was dutifully ignoring him.

"Do _you_ know?" Shisui asked.

The photographer cleared her throat and said a tight, "on the back of the neck. Left side."

Shisui crouched down and rocked back on his heels to get a closer look without disturbing the crime scene. And sure enough, on the left side of the victim's neck and just above a puncture wound was the mark made up of three tomoe that had been on every victim thus far.

Shisui exhaled and stood back up as he tried to formulate some kind of explanation for the mark. When he and Itachi had gotten the case files for what everyone was now calling the Ryuchi Killings, he spent hours trying to discern what the marks were and what they meant. But he hadn't been able to come up with anything and seeing the mark in person only frustrated him that much more.

"You've got to be _kidding_ me."

Ebisu's voice came out in a short hiss and Shisui looked away from the body to see the officer fuming with his arms crossed, looking over his shoulder, and muttering angrily beneath his breath.

Shisui followed Ebisu's line of sight to see a group of people approaching the crime scene, but being stopped by officers along the perimeter.

He raised an eyebrow and shot another glance at Itachi, but Itachi seemed just as confused.

It was common for bystanders to want to get a closer look at murder scenes. As long as there was an established perimeter, why did it matter?

"Am I missing something?" Shisui asked.

"Nothing but _buzzards_—every single one of them," Ebisu spat. He stalked over to two figures that were a little too close to crossing the perimeter for comfort and immediately started yelling at them. Shisui narrowed his eyes and moved to stand beside Itachi.

"What just happened?" He asked.

Itachi crossed his arms, looking perpetually bored with the situation. "I haven't the faintest idea."

Shisui looked on curiously, almost feeling bad for the people who were facing Ebisu's wrath, but paused when his eyes focused on the person who was now yelling back at Ebisu.

He knew her.

It was that girl from last night. The tall one with freckles and messy hair that ended up in his bed.

A smirk overtook Shisui and he elbowed Itachi after he crossed his arms.

"Hey, 'Tachi,'" he started. "See that girl Ebisu is talking to?"

Itachi looked in their direction and sighed, "can't keep it in your pants for one day, Shisui?"

Shisui snickered, "that's the girl from last night."

Itachi's eyebrows rose but he didn't say anything. He only gave Shisui a careful look, one that told him he better leave it alone.

"Oh come on," Shisui said. "Can't I just say hello?"

"No. We have a crime scene to examine. Let's go," Itachi said. His tone was final and Shisui knew better than to argue with him when he got like that.

So Shisui bit back a smug smile and followed Itachi back over to the body.

* * *

"This is a crime scene! No press allowed!" Ebisu half whispered, half screamed. "You need to leave!"

Hana wasn't having it. She crossed her arms and stuck her chin out.

"Oh bite me, Ebisu. You're not in charge," she taunted.

Ebisu just _seethed_ and made a sound that was some sort of a cross between a hiss and a growl, like an agitated cat or something and it took Hana all of her self control to not burst into laughter and to egg him on even more.

"This is Raido's doing, isn't it? The press is probably just now finding out about the murder. How else would you have known to come here?" Ebisu said.

"Hey, leave him out of it, would ya?" Genma quipped from beside Hana.

She couldn't see his eyes behind those black sunglasses, but Hana imagined that they got pretty big because Ebisu stepped closer so he was standing against the yellow tape of the perimeter and just about broke it.

"It _is,_ isn't it?" Ebisu demanded. He shook his head as his jaw clenched. "Just wait until I tell Chief Shimura about this. He'll rip Raido right from the case—"

Genma's reaction was instant, taking a step closer and almost touching foreheads with Ebisu as he chewed on his toothpick in somehow the most threatening way possible.

"I said to leave Raido out of it," he warned, his tone falling to an impossibly low one.

The tension was too much and it too obvious as it was quickly earning attention from other officers.

Hana placed a hand on Genma's bicep and pulled him back half a step.

"We just went out for a walk after our meeting," she lied. "Did you know that Yamato is the one covering the Ryuchi Killings?" Hana said. She gave Ebisu a sickening smile and he absolutely, positively, did not fall for it.

He snorted. "I don't believe you. You probably weaseled your way into covering it—like you do with everything."

Hana feigned hurt and placed a hand over her heart.

"And here I thought we were friends," she said as she pouted her lips.

Ebisu practically snarled at them like a dog before he began to stalk away from them and Hana took that as her chance to slip under the police tape to follow Ebisu.

She was vaguely aware of Genma trying to whisper/yell at her to stop so they didn't get in trouble, but she ignored him under the guise of walking with Ebisu.

And it worked because no one said anything to her.

"C'mon, Ebisu! Give me something to chew on! A statement or something!" She urged.

He turned over his shoulder, too lost in his rage to reprimand her for crossing the line.

"You just said Yamato was covering this!"

"He is! I'm just trying to help my fellow writer out. C'mon. We're all friends here. Give us a statement," she said. "Wouldn't you rather help Yamato than Mizuki? You know he'll be here soon enough since he's the one covering this for _The Konoha Post._"

She had followed Ebisu dangerously close to the scene of the crime and she was earning a few passing stares from other officers, particularly the ones who knew her and knew that she worked for _Byakugan Times_.

Ebisu's brow twitched and he huffed.

"Just… Just hang on!" He barked at her before he walked over to another officer.

Hana took the moment alone to her full advantage, letting her eyes survey as much of the scene as she possibly could.

The tall trees of Naka Park provided optimal covering and shade for someone to dispose of a body. The path the body was found on was one of the lesser traversed ones, obvious from the overgrowth of shrubbery and the tree roots that were rising up from beneath the ground.

It was at least a twenty-minute walk from the entrance and paved road to get to the initial dirt path and another ten minutes to get to their current location. There wasn't even a clearing or a stream to drop a body at, but rather enough rotted logs and decayed leaves to drop someone off and let nature do the rest to camouflage the corpse.

If only she could get closer to the body itself…

But before she could even attempt it, there was a voice at her ear, sending an involuntary shiver through her body.

"You left your panties at my place."

* * *

_**Author's Note: Title of this fic comes from Knuckle Puck's song "Untitled".**_

_**I love Shisui. You love Shisui. We all love Shisui. So here's the Shisui story I wanted to post back during Christmas but didn't because I revamped it.**_

_**There's 27 drafted chapters, give or take a few as I edit. Weekly updates on either Monday, Wednesday, or Sunday (since those are my not-so-busy days). If you have a preference for which day let me know, otherwise I'll probably stick with Sunday or Monday.**_

_**Reviews and feedback are SO very greatly appreciated! Thanks so much for reading(:**_


	2. Chapter 2

_***See author's note at the end***_

* * *

Hana had half the mind to think she'd just given herself whiplash with how goddamn fast she whipped around.

The guy from the bar last night was standing directly behind her with a smug look on his face. She blinked at him once, twice, three times and almost wanted to laugh.

He wasn't in a uniform like Ebisu or the other cops, but rather some light slacks, a black polo that was fitted maybe a little too well, and a nylon blue jacket that was left unzipped. He didn't wear a badge around his neck, but she already figured it out. She knew that if she saw the back of his jacket it would have big yellow letters that said FBI on it.

"You're a fed?" She asked.

His smug smirk wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and he placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"That's right," he said. "And you're a reporter. Have to be otherwise I doubt Ebisu would have called you a buzzard."

She didn't have a witty response to that. She just parted her lips to say something, but nothing came out and she wanted to laugh at herself.

His smirk morphed into a smile, still smug and amused, but with an endearing schoolboy charm that had Hana thinking _damn_. She had good taste.

"I'm not a reporter. I'm a journalist," she finally said. "And I don't cover murders."

There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he believed her, but his dark eyes were roaming across her face, her lips, up and down her body, and she figured she had a chance to convince him otherwise while he was busy eye fucking her.

"Oh yeah?" Those dark eyes were back on her hazel ones. "Then what do you cover?"

She bit down on her lower lip and caught the way his eyes instantly dropped to her lips and she fought back the urge to smirk at how easy this was.

"Mostly celebrity affairs. It's our most popular segment." She took a half step closer to him and his smirk widened. "People are just dying to know about Tsunade Senju's wedding. She and her childhood sweetheart are getting married in the countryside just outside of her hometown. I'm told it's going to be a rustic, chic wedding with an intimate ceremony and a lively reception."

Laughter bubbled in his chest and he put a fist in front of his mouth to stifle it.

"Sounds absolutely thrilling," he drawled. His eyes twinkled and that smirk shifted into an easy smile that left Hana wondering how many women he had taken to bed wearing that exact expression.

She was careful to keep her own expression flirty and light.

"Oh you have no idea," she said. "You should have seen the articles about Minato Namikaze's wedding—talk about a real rager."

This time he didn't bother stifling his laughter. It was a warm sound, one that made Hana's stomach flutter.

"All right, all right," he said. "You cover celebrities and weddings. But care to explain how a celebrity reporter ended up at a murder scene?"

He took one hand out of his pocket to run it through his head of dark curls, patiently waiting for her response.

"Sheer dumb luck."

His one eyebrow arched above the other and he silently waited for her to continue.

"My coworker and I had a rough morning. Way too many meetings for a Friday, so we decided to get some fresh air and go for a walk before our editors noticed. We don't work far from the park, maybe a ten-minute walk?"

The lie fell off her tongue with ease. She wasn't proud of it, but the lying was a skill that developed out of necessity and a sense of self preservation when she was working on different pieces. And while Hana didn't necessarily like having to use it, it definitely came in handy when she wanted to get information.

He didn't look completely convinced, not with the way his eyes were still steady on her. But he was a fed, and if he didn't take everything with a heavy dose of skepticism, he wouldn't have made a very good agent.

"Hm," he hummed softly. Then in another breath said, "I never got your name last night… Or this morning."

She hesitated for a fraction of a second. Did she want him to know her name? What if he looked her up? It would have been easy to find her pieces and then get Ebisu in trouble for letting her cross the line. And if it got Ebisu in trouble he would inevitably blame Raido. And if Raido got in trouble Genma would end Hana's life before she could come up with a headline.

But maybe she was just being paranoid, the years of her work having taken a toll on her.

"Hana," she finally said.

"Hana," he repeated, practically tasting the name on his tongue and making her arms ripple with gooseflesh. He cocked his head to the side. "I'm Shisui."

"Well Shisui," she started, running her fingers through her hair and pushing it away from her eyes. "I should let you get back to work. I don't think your supervisor looks very happy with you right now."

She nodded her chin at a man who was standing over where the body must have been, with long black hair and arms crossed, giving Shisui a tired look.

Shisui followed her eyes and looked over his shoulder, letting out a chuckle and returning his attention to her.

"That's not my supervisor. That's my cousin," he said.

She narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"And partner on the case," he added. "But you're right. He definitely does not look happy. I better get back."

She nodded and gave him the prettiest smile she could muster. "Same here. Don't want my editor to notice that I'm gone."

Shisui didn't walk away though. He stood in front of her and rubbed the bottom of his chin with his hand with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I should give you my number," he said.

It was Hana's turn to cock her head to the side. "Oh?"

"Well, you did leave your panties at my place." His voice was low and teasing, and Hana could feel her cheeks flush.

Her mouth fell open as she searched for the right words to string a sentence together, but was speechless. And the self-satisfied look on Shisui's handsome face did absolutely nothing to help her come up with a response. He just raised his eyebrows, bit back a grin, and waited for her to say something.

She couldn't. She just made this weird sound that might have been a sigh or a laugh, she wasn't really sure, and reached into her bag for her phone.

Blushing way harder than she would have liked, she pressed her lips together and handed him the device.

He grinned and typed his number in. When she took her phone back with the screen on his contact, he took a couple of steps backward, plunging both of his hands into his pockets.

"Call me," he said, throwing her a lazy wink. Then he finally turned around and took long strides up to where his cousin was probably waiting to reprimand him.

Having already forgotten herself and way too flustered for her own good, Hana nearly jumped when Ebisu came back over to her.

"Here's your statement," he grumbled. He held out a napkin to her and Hana furrowed her eyebrows as she plucked it from his hand. Her eyes scanned over it and she scoffed.

"Seriously? You wrote your statement on a dirty napkin?"

Ebisu got right in her face and growled out a low, "take it and go, or I throw Raido under the bus where he belongs."

Had it not been for her conversation with Shisui, Hana would have dug her heels in and outright refused. She would have called Ebisu out on his bluff (which bluff might have been too strong of a word because if he actually felt threatened, he would have no qualms about throwing Raido under the bus). But because of the thin line she was walking, Hana held her hands up in defense and backtracked over to the other side of the police line where Genma's brown eyes were steady on her and where he wore an all-knowing expression.

"Don't," she said as she pointed her finger at him.

"That was that guy from last night," he said.

"Yes it was," she admitted. She started to head out of the park and away from the little dirt path that led to the dead body with Genma following her.

"What I want to know is how you ended up screwing the FBI agent working on the same case that you're trying to steal from Yamato," Genma said.

Hana shot him a wide grin.

"Lady luck is on my side, Shiranui."

Genma snickered, "yeah? Does that mean you're going to leave Raido out of it?"

She flashed him the dirty napkin from Ebisu with the written statement from his superior and grinned harder.

"For now."

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha sat through his fourth-year biochemistry class at the University of Konoha alone. He was on course to graduate one semester early and taking the advanced biochemistry class taught by Orochimaru was one of the requirements to make sure he graduated next Fall.

He was actually majoring in organic chemistry, but he found the biochemistry class interesting enough, and Orochimaru was a genius, so he didn't actually mind it all that much.

Unlike the god awful humanities elective he was forced to take.

The class went on and Sasuke took diligent notes, surprised when the hour was over so quickly. Orochimaru dismissed them and Sasuke packed up his things. He promised Naruto and Sakura that he would meet them for lunch, and he was already dreading it.

He was questioning his decision-making skills as he threw his bag over his shoulder and started to ascend the steps of the lecture hall. That was when Orochimaru walked over to him.

"Mr. Uchiha," Orochimaru said. He extended his hand to Sasuke and Sasuke shook it as he narrowed his eyes.

"Professor," he said.

"Do you have a second? I'd like to talk to you about something."

Sasuke adjusted the shoulder strap of his bag and nodded. The lecture hall was just about completely cleared out, the only people left being him, Orochimaru, and a couple of people chatting in the back as they slowly made their way out.

"Sure," Sasuke said.

"Excellent," Orochimaru said. He walked over to the podium as he spoke, gathering his things together. "I know we're only partway through the semester, but you've already managed to impress me with your work. Your other professors speak very highly of you and I can certainly see why."

Sasuke's face was even and almost bored as Orochimaru praised him. It wasn't anything new. He was used to the praise from professors. They were constantly tripping over themselves around him, saying how gifted and talented he was. The reality was that he was surrounded by complete and total idiots who might as well have been eating glue in the back of the classroom while Sasuke put in the minimum effort needed to make the grade.

But he guessed it made him stand out since his peers were blundering idiots.

"Thank you," Sasuke said. With any luck, Orochimaru would keep talking and he could avoid meeting up with Naruto and Sakura.

"I understand you're graduating a semester early," Orochimaru said.

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and nodded.

"Have you decided on what your senior project is going to be?"

Sasuke pursed his lips. "To be honest, I haven't had time to give it much thought."

Orochimaru seemed to be expecting that as he was already nodding his head before Sasuke even answered him.

"Well, there's plenty of time for you to come up with something for next semester. However, I'd like to offer you an alternative," he said.

Maybe it was the fact that Sasuke was raised by a high ranking FBI agent. Maybe it was the fact that he lived in his brother's (who was also an FBI agent) shadow. Maybe it was the fact that he was friends with Naruto Uzumaki and bad shit tended to follow him everywhere because of it…

But Sasuke was immediately suspicious and already planning an escape route.

"Alternative?" Sasuke repeated.

Orochimaru gave him a smile as he said, "that's correct. You see, I do my own research during the year. It's actually my main job working for the university, and I'm allowed to bring on a few research assistants every year because it's so extensive."

The corner of Sasuke's lips pulled downward. He wasn't sure how he felt about where this was going.

"They're generally graduate students, but I'd like to extend the last position to you if you'd like it."

Sasuke should have been jumping at the offer. Orochimaru was a goddamn genius and Sasuke liked the material the man taught. He knew it would have been one hell of a resume booster and he knew it would have gotten him out of a senior project.

But the thought of taking on even more work? He was already swamped enough as it was. His classes were long and arduous. His labs were even worse.

And then to accept a research position with one of the most esteemed faculty at the university?

Would he have another mental breakdown if he took it? He wasn't sure he could handle more than one of those a year.

"Can I have some time to think about it, Professor?" Sasuke asked.

Orochimaru's lips twitched into a smirk.

"Of course, Sasuke. Let me know by next week, yes?"

Sasuke nodded and thanked his professor before he walked out of the lecture hall.

By the time he got to the coffee shop right off campus, Naruto and Sakura were already there waiting for him.

Christ, he really did have awful decision-making skills, didn't he?

"It's about damn time!" Naruto's voice carried across the entire coffee shop, louder than the coffee grinders and blenders.

Why was he friends with these idiots?

"There you are! We were worried about you," Sakura chimed in. Her face turned a shade of pink as she looked at him, the way it always did, and he fought against the reflex to roll his eyes. He didn't even say anything to them to acknowledge their presence. He just threw his bag into the seat beside Naruto and walked up to the counter to get himself some tea.

When he came back and sat beside the blond, Naruto threw his arm around Sasuke's shoulders, making Sasuke almost spill his drink.

"Get off of me," Sasuke deadpanned.

"We were just worried, Sasuke," Sakura said. She tried batting her eyelashes at him and Sasuke flat out ignored her. "With all of the students going missing we just—"

"Thought you might be the next body in Ryuchi Caves!" Naruto finished with a barking laugh that made Sasuke wince.

"Unlike you, Naruto. I'm not an idiot," Sasuke said. He smirked into his tea when Naruto's face began to redden with rage. Served the bastard right for screaming at the top of his lungs right when he walked in.

"That's cold, Sasuke," Naruto grumbled.

"What took you so long?" Sakura asked, leaning forward over her books.

Sasuke didn't even know that journalism students had textbooks. What a waste of paper on a useless major.

"I was talking to my professor. He wants me to be a research assistant for him."

Naruto reacted first. "Holy shit. Who's the prof? You gonna do it?"

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said. "And I haven't decided."

"That's amazing! You should definitely do it, Sasuke. Think how incredible your resume would be," Sakura said. And despite how annoying she could be, he did somewhat appreciate her faith in him.

"Orochimaru gives me the creeps," Naruto muttered. He took a long swig of what Sasuke presumed was hot chocolate since the guy never drank coffee or tea, and shrugged his shoulders in the most dramatic fashion possible. "Looks like the type of guy to wait for people in alleys and slit their throats in the name of _research_."

Sasuke sighed. You'd think with everything going on in the city that Naruto would have more tact than that.

Actually, scratch that.

That was giving Naruto way too much credit. Of course he didn't have any tact whatsoever.

"You're ridiculous," Sasuke said. He took a sip of his tea and dutifully ignored Naruto's glower.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sakura snapped. "You're just jealous."

"Oh yeah," Naruto said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "So jealous of the creepy professor who has a crush on Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed but didn't have to do anything since Sakura was already leaning across the table to punch him (hard) in the arm. It was these instances that he was actually grateful for their pink haired friend.

"Ow! The hell, Sakura?" Naruto shouted.

"Stop being such an ass!"

The two of them continued bickering as Sasuke's phone buzzed in his pocket. Normally, he would have ignored it. But since those two idiots were currently causing a scene that was likely to get them kicked out, Sasuke decided to busy himself by checking his texts.

It was from Itachi, of course.

'**Be careful getting home. Another body was found today.'**

He frowned and his eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Sakura, as always, was the first to notice the change in his facial expression.

"Itachi says another body was found today," Sasuke said. He typed back a quick response, saying that he would be fine, and then returned his phone to his back pocket.

"I thought your brother was in Kumo. How did he hear about that before any of us did?" Naruto asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"He and Shisui were called back a few days ago. I think they're working the case."

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look and Naruto flinched.

"Must be bad if _they're_ working it," he said.

Sasuke shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.

"Just don't be stupid walking home and you should be fine," he said to Naruto. "I know that's exceptionally difficult for you, but at least try."

Naruto's eye twitched.

Then next thing Sasuke knew they were getting kicked out of the coffee shop.

* * *

It was the second time that day that Shisui and Itachi walked through the doors of Konoha's downtown police station, only this time they were actually going to properly meet their team.

The station was nicer than Shisui had been expecting. Sure, it was still in need of some renovations (he was fairly certain that there was a leak in the pipes judging from the water stain in the kitchen ceiling) but it was up to date and surprisingly clean.

Shisui definitely could appreciate that.

Not that he was a neat freak.

Okay, maybe a little. But still. He just appreciated a clean workplace, all right?

"Ah, Agents. Sorry I missed you this morning."

Shisui and Itachi had been waiting in a small conference room with white walls, a round table, and a dry erase board in it. They didn't have offices or anything, so they were told that conference room C was going to be where they did most of their work, and it was already starting to get disorganized, what with case files strewn across the table.

They were told they would meet their team as soon as they met the Chief of Police, Danzo Shimura.

And he took his sweet time before showing up and introducing himself.

"Fugaku's boys, yes?" Shimura said. His eyes scanned the two of them and then said a bored, "neither of you look much like him." He held a mug of coffee in one hand and shook their hands with his free one.

"You know Fugaku?" Itachi asked.

"Little bit," Shimura said. "We've worked together in the past. I didn't know he had two sons working for the Bureau."

"He doesn't," Shisui answered. "Itachi here is his son. I'm Shisui—his nephew."

Shimura nodded. "Ah. That explains the curly hair then."

Shisui reacted subconsciously, not even realizing that he placed a hand at the back of his head at the mention of his curls.

Shimura coughed several times and rubbed his right eye in frustration, blinking hard at the two of them.

Shisui frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Everything all right?" He asked.

"Fine," Shimura barked. "Just getting old. Come on, I'll introduce you to your team."

Shisui and Itachi didn't say anything to each other, just quietly followed the coughing Chief of Police.

He guided them to his office, a large room with a leather armchair behind a wooden desk and framed awards all hung up on the white walls. There were two tall windows side by side behind the desk, but the blinds had been drawn so the only light in the room came from a dim desk lamp with a yellow hue.

Shimura walked around to the other side and sat in the armchair, and only a few seconds after he and Itachi walked in, two other officers joined them.

"Lieutenant Yamashiro," Shimura greeted the slightly taller officer with wild dark hair and red framed glasses. He then directed his attention to the shorter officer, the one with medium-length hair and tired eyes. "Sergeant Gekko… Where's Namiashi?"

"Last I saw he was talking to Ebis—" Gekko began to say, and as if right on cue, the third officer entered the room.

Shisui looked over the third officer. He had dark brown hair that stood out in different directions, dark eyes, and a scar that went across the bridge of his nose and disfigured the left side of his face.

"Sorry, Chief," he said, breathless. "I lost track of time."

"Clearly," Shimura said. He looked bored, his eyes almost glazed over and his mouth in a frown.

"Well, I'll try not to waste your time. You three were selected to assist these two agents with the Ryuchi Killings. The sooner you figure out what's going on the sooner the station won't be crawling with feds."

Shisui could have rolled his eyes. _'Crawling with feds'_ was a bit of an exaggeration. It was just him and Itachi. It's not like Fugaku sent a whole goddamn battalion to Konoha.

"Yes sir," Yamashiro said.

"Good, I'll be around if you need anything. You're all dismissed," Shimura said. Then, seeming to think better of it, he stopped them before they could even get through the door. "Namiashi."

Namiashi was pulled taut like a string and Shisui could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard.

"Sir?"

"I'm watching you. Don't screw this one up like last time."

* * *

Hana sat at the little computer desk in her apartment, furiously typing and reworking her article. She was on a time crunch to get the piece to Mr. Hyuga before Yamato could get his own version to the man, and Hana counted every single second that passed.

With the statement from Ebisu, she knew she had an edge. The police didn't give any statements to any of the reporters other than the generic "we're investigating the incident". And even though her statement on the dirty napkin wasn't much, it was something that no one, not even Mizuki and _The Konoha Post_ had.

She and Genma went back to work and Hana furiously typed out an article. She recounted every detail of the crime scene, included Ebisu's statement, and included the fact that there had been FBI agents at the scene.

There was a strong likelihood that Mizuki picked up on that, but maybe not. She had only seen Shisui and his partner there, and they were far enough from the perimeter that none of the other reporters should have been able to see or identify them.

So that was something.

There was also the fact that she really thought there was a chance she got to Mr. Hyuga before Yamato. Her fellow writer had _just_ been about to leave the office when she and Genma came back, and goddamnit Hana loved Raido more than anything in the world for giving her an advantage.

Mr. Hyuga would give her the story.

He _had_ to.

She made one last tweak to the article and then emailed it to her boss.

Her hazel eyes drifted to the clock on her computer and she winced when she saw that it was already midnight.

_Damnit_. Maybe Yamato had gotten his article to Mr. Hyuga first…

She had to hope that Mr. Hyuga would prefer her quality over his quantity and huffed as she slammed her laptop shut.

Hana ran her hands over her freckled face and pushed herself away from the little computer desk and paced around her apartment, chewing on her thumbnail as she did.

The carpet was soft on her bare feet, albeit a little damp from the humid summer air. In fact, it was just dawning on her how hot it was in her apartment. In her panic to get Mr. Hyuga the article with Genma's edits, she hadn't even realized that her apartment was disgustingly stuffy.

She fanned herself with her hand and walked over to the thermostat and tried to adjust it to no avail, groaning when she saw how high the temperature was.

She'd have to call Asuma in the morning and ask him to take a look at it.

Not that her brother would be much help with that sort of thing—but the odds of him figuring out the issue were infinitely higher than her.

Trying desperately to cool off, Hana walked into her bedroom and peeled her pants off and swapped her shirt for a tank top. Walking back into the living room with only the tank top and a pair of underwear on, she sat back in the computer chair at the small wooden desk and opened her laptop.

She went straight to her work email, refreshed it five or six or seven times all to no avail. Mr. Hyuga was definitely not awake and if he was, it wasn't to check his work emails.

If there was one thing Hana Sarutobi hated more than anything else, it was waiting.

Okay maybe not. Maybe it was complacency.

_Regardless_, she was going to lose her shit if she sat there any longer, staring at her email and refreshing it like a psychopath, looking for an email that wasn't going to come until (at the very earliest) tomorrow morning.

But she was too fucking wired to go to sleep, so what the actual fuck was she supposed to do?

Hana huffed, puffed, and raked her fingers through her wavy hair as she looked around the apartment.

It could use a deep cleaning…

If her father saw her apartment he would definitely rake her over the coals. He would point his finger at her and scold her and say that she needed to pick up her damn clothes and do the godforsaken dishes.

She thought about it too, going around her apartment and picking up all the clothes that were on the floor of the living room and tossing them back into her bedroom or maybe in the bathroom. She also thought about finally doing the dishes that were piling up.

Then she decided she'd rather not.

Because damnit, if she was going to spend her time doing anything, it was going to be something to improve her chances of stealing the Ryuchi Killings story from Yamato.

So Hana grabbed her phone off the desk where her computer sat (after refreshing her email three more times of course) and threw herself onto the old couch that Asuma gave her when she moved into her apartment and typed out a text.

She left her phone on the floor by her couch since she didn't have a coffee table, and propped her feet up on the arm of the sofa as she turned the TV on. She flipped right to the news, waiting for all the coverage of the Ryuchi Killings to begin.

When her phone buzzed ten minutes later, she found herself absentmindedly biting down on the top of the remote as she watched the news and actually jumped at the loudness of her phone's vibrate.

'**I thought I told you to call me ?'**

Hana actually chuckled at the text from Shisui.

'**Did you? Funny. I thought we had the ability to text these days'**

She was pleasantly surprised when Shisui responded within only a couple of minutes, relieved that she wasn't going to have to play the game of _"you don't respond for ten minutes, so then I don't respond for eleven minutes, and so on so forth."_

'**Har har. So is this some sort of booty call?'**

If Hana actually thought she had the chance to kick it and relax enough to hook up with the guy, she might have gone down that rabbit hole. But the fact was she was too goddamn wired and neurotic with constantly checking her email to even entertain that thought.

'**Lol can't. Working on something. Sorry to disappoint'**

What was the best way to get information out of a fed? Was pillow talk the way to loosen his lips? It seemed like it should be. Or was that the whole point of bringing the feds in? They didn't have loose lips?

'**Only disappointed if you say no to drinks this week'**

One eyebrow arched high above the other and the corner of her lip twitched upward.

Smooth.

Hana could work with that.

'**Ooh does the fed have time for drinks with his big murder case?'**

Might have been pushing it. Might have made her seem a little too eager, but to be fair, everyone in the city of Konoha was talking about the case, and she had to seem both interested and nonchalant if she wanted him to tell her anything.

'**I've always got time for a pretty face'**

She rolled her eyes but still chuckled in spite of herself. Hana wasn't one to usually go for cheesy pickup lines like that, but Shisui was good looking enough that he probably got away with it all the time.

Not to mention that Shisui had information she wanted.

'**Yeah? Even time tomorrow?'**

She chewed on the side of her thumbnail. She really hoped she didn't seem too eager. No use in scaring the guy off before she got a chance to pick his brain. She just couldn't help herself, not when the opportunity was dangling right there in front of her.

'**I could make that work. Might be kinda late if you're okay with that?'**

She made herself wait a few moments before texting back. It wasn't that she was eager to see him again but eager to get any bit of information out of the guy that could potentially give her a leg up on Yamato.

And did she feel bad about it?

Maybe. But call her whatever you want, she didn't feel bad enough to stop.

'**Fine with me ;)'**

He responded a minute or so later, just enough time in between for Hana to refresh her work email again.

'**Hell yea. I'll text you when I'm done work then'**

Hana grinned in relief and sent him a quick 'alright awesome' text.

She wasn't gonna fuck this up. No sir. Not a goddamn chance.

Checking her email three more times, Hana turned her TV off and then went to bed.

* * *

_***Author's note***_

_**Friendly reminder that I do not think journalism is a useless major... But I can totally see Sasuke (especially in this context) thinking that. (Also sorry but I'm a lil bit of a Sakura hater ****¯\\_(ツ)_/¯)**_

**_I don't usually directly respond to reviews since I'm not a huge fan of the PM feature on this site, so THANK YOU _****_Honestlyxx, FlightofthePhoenix83, and Kellie for leaving reviews (even though it was only the first chapter, wow you guys are awesome). _**

**_The feedback means the world to me(:_**


	3. Chapter 3

_***See author's note at the end***_

* * *

_Shisui was falling._

_No, that wasn't right._

_He was sinking._

_Sinking deeper and deeper into a darkness so cold and so dense that it was like he was being smothered with black velvet._

_He was suffocating._

_He was going to die. Alone and cold in that blackness that was too heavy to move his limbs through. He would die alone. No friends or family. No one but himself all lost in black velvet as his lungs burned with each breath he was refused._

_His head was going to explode and his lungs were either on fire or shriveling up completely. And then, just when the agony of fighting it became too much, just when his head was going to blow apart, and just when his lungs were about to burst, he opened his mouth to suck in a breath and—_

Shisui thrashed awake so hard in his bed that he was pretty sure he just threw his neck out and gasped so loud for breath that moments later there was a frantic knock on his door and Itachi was letting himself in, his dark eyes wild and concerned.

"Shisui?" Itachi's voice was calm, but Shisui could hear the faint trembling of worry there.

He played it off and ran a hand over his face and pushed his unruly hair out of his eyes.

"Sorry, 'Tachi," he said as he offered his cousin a small smile. "Bad dream."

Itachi blinked at him with his mouth slightly open. Then he closed it and gave a heavy sigh.

"I told my father that coming back here this soon was a bad idea. I'll call him and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Shisui said. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The feeling of the air on his bare chest cooled him and drew his attention to the cold sweat he didn't even notice moments ago.

"Relax!" Shisui pressed. "I just had a bad dream. Nothing to freak out about."

Itachi was neither impressed nor pacified. Not one bit.

Shisui frowned while he looked his cousin over. He doubted he woke Itachi up, but his long hair was still in a very messy bun at the nape of his neck and his eyes were still a little bloodshot from a night of sleep. He wasn't even dressed, still wearing a pair of blue boxers and a white t-shirt.

"Do I need to remind you what happened last time you had nightmares like this?" Itachi asked.

Shisui tried his best not to flinch, but he knew he still did because the lines on Itachi's forehead smoothed out in sympathy.

"It was just a bad dream," Shisui reiterated. "Not a nightmare."

Those lines reappeared on his cousin's forehead and Shisui did his best not to internally freak out and start begging his cousin not to call his uncle.

"…I'm getting dressed. We'll leave for the station in an hour," Itachi said.

Shisui didn't argue as Itachi left.

He sighed and put a hand to the back of neck to try and massage away the newfound tension there as his eyelids fluttered shut.

And in the darkness behind closed lids, all he could think of was black velvet.

* * *

Hana nursed a cup of coffee as she leaned against the wall and watched her brother. Asuma and his pregnant wife Kurenai stopped over to take a look at her air conditioner after she called him when she woke up, disgusting and sweaty from a hot night.

She wore a pair of cloth shorts and a loose t-shirt in an attempt to cool down, tying her hair back in a loose braid when it got to be too much for her to deal with.

"Any luck?" She asked.

Asuma fidgeted with it some more and then looked over his shoulder and shook his head.

"Sorry, Hana," he said. "You're gonna have to call someone."

She rolled her eyes, but honestly, she had been expecting that.

"Great."

They walked back out in the living room together where Kurenai was sitting on the sofa, fanning herself with a magazine.

"Kurenai, you didn't have to come. It's not good for you to be sitting in my disgustingly hot apartment while you're pregnant," Hana said. She walked over to the small sliding glass door on the far wall of the living room and pulled it wide open so there was a breeze.

"The heat isn't the only disgusting part of your apartment," Asuma teased, giving her braid a tug when he walked by to sit with his wife.

Hana scoffed into her coffee cup. Just because she wasn't a neat freak didn't mean her apartment was disgusting, all right? It just meant that she had to pick up her damn clothes… Okay, and maybe do her dishes.

"You are so mean to me," Hana said.

"No, I'm honest with you," Asuma said. "If Dad saw this place he'd have a stroke."

"Well lucky for me Dad never comes to visit," she bit back.

"Oh cut the shit," Asuma said, even though his voice was still light and easy. "What's got you so uppity?"

Hana groaned in the most dramatic way possible, throwing her arms up over her head and all but tossing herself onto the last cushion of her couch (almost spilling coffee all over herself in the process).

"If you _must_ know," she started. "I'm in the middle of a battle to the death for a story."

Asuma let out loud, barking laugh, one that would have startled her if she hadn't been expecting it, and threw an arm around Kurenai as he continued.

Kurenai looked at him with a twinkle in her eye (she always did when he belly-laughed like that) and gave Hana a soft smile.

"Who's the unfortunate soul you're battling with?" She asked.

Hana answered right away and glared at her coffee cup as if it had personally insulted her.

"Yamato."

"You're gonna steal that story away from him like a goddamn freight train and the poor guy will never see it coming," Asuma teased. He ran a hand over his beard and absentmindedly pulled Kurenai a little closer to him.

Despite feeling some type of way, Hana couldn't help it when the corner of her lips barely quirked upward at the sight of them together.

Asuma always dated plenty growing up, almost to the point where she and their father thought he might never settle down. And then Kurenai came along and it was over.

Asuma fell head over heels in love and never looked back.

When Hana was younger, she wished she looked like him. She always thought that her sandy brown hair, freckles, and hazel eyes had nothing on Asuma's thick black hair, even complexion, and dark brown eyes. She used to wonder if she was even a Sarutobi at all when she compared herself to him.

Their father had just laughed and said she had her mother's hair, the Sarutobi's tan complexion, brown tinted eyes, and long legs… And then would promptly tease her by saying he had no clue where the freckles came from.

Her father didn't really speak that fondly to her or Asuma anymore.

He hadn't spoken to them almost at all since their mother passed away.

"Why the long face?" Asuma asked. He reached the arm that was around Kurenai out just far enough to flick her chin, and she fixed her face into a pathetic scowl.

"I'm holding back the impulse to check my email another seven hundred times in case Mr. Hyuga sees my piece," she said.

"You're an obsessive freak. You know that, right?" Asuma said.

She scoffed and waved her hand.

"You don't get the awards and recognition that I get without being a little obsessive, all right?"

The laugh that came from her brother was more of a snort than a laugh, and Kurenai lazily knocked her hand against his chest in response.

"A little?" Asuma repeated. "You need something to occupy your time that doesn't include writing. Like… Knitting."

Hana didn't even get the chance to say _'what the hell, Asuma?' _because Kurenai cut right in.

"Or a boyfriend!" She chirped. "Go on some dates and get out there! You're young and cute, it would be great for you to start dating again! Maybe you'd feel a little less stir crazy."

_Stir crazy_. There was that phrase again. Genma said the same thing at the office yesterday.

"My little sister does not need a boyfriend. She'd kill one. She needs a hobby or a dog," Asuma's tone left no room for further discussion, but his wife couldn't be deterred.

"_Asuma_," Kurenai said sharply.

Asuma at least at the decency to pretend to hide his chuckle. "What?"

They bickered back and forth, and Hana ignored them in favor of checking her email and refreshing the page approximately five consecutive times before she looked at them again.

"Did you say something?" She asked.

"See? She's not even paying attention! She's probably checking her email," Asuma said to Kurenai. He stood up and offered his wife his hand, and she took it, allowing him to pull her up.

"I'm being diligent," Hana said.

Asuma rolled his eyes and said a sarcastic, "and I'm Hashirama Senju."

She pouted the same way she did as a child when he would tease her, and Asuma gave her a peck on the forehead in an impatient manner that was both routine and endearing.

"Put your phone down and go get some fresh air," Asuma said. "And clean your goddamn apartment."

Pretending he didn't say anything was easy enough. She already spent most of her life perfecting that skill.

"Yeah yeah," she said. "Thanks for looking at my busted AC."

"Anytime, Punk," Asuma said.

Mr. Hyuga still hadn't responded to her email by the time Asuma and Kurenai were long gone and Hana was about to go out of her goddamn mind.

Seriously.

Between the heat, humidity, and the anxiousness that made her want to vomit, she had to go do something before she actually lost her mind.

So naturally, of course, Hana decided what better way to spend her time than by going back to the scene of the crime yesterday?

Asuma told her to get some fresh air (along with cleaning her apartment but whatever), and this way she was both getting her fresh air and doing something to give her a better chance of stealing the story from Yamato.

Who knows? Maybe she'd see something that was missed and it would be a crucial detail she could add to her piece to convince Mr. Hyuga that she was the better choice.

She showered and dressed quickly, opting for a pair of high waist shorts and a white tank she could tuck in.

No point in wearing something that would make her hot and distract her from noticing a crucial detail.

Hana jumped into her car, deciding to drive to Naka Park instead of walking since that would take too long and since it was just too goddamn hot.

Naka Park was on the outskirts of Ryuchi Caves National Park, but it technically was still part of it. And Naka Park was usually always on the busy side since it was pretty much was in the middle of the city, but when Hana got there it was _insane_.

She couldn't even find a parking spot. She ended up having to park in a side alley and pray that her car wouldn't get towed. Then she was stuck walking at least five minutes to get to Naka Park itself, and then another twenty minutes to get off the paved road and onto the dirt path that the joggers usually took, and then another ten minutes to get far enough up the dirt path to where the body had been.

At least, that's how long it should have taken. It took Hana infinitely longer with all the people in the way.

And _damnit_, it was to no avail, because when she finally reached the location of the crime scene, it was still blocked off with yellow tape and cops standing around. She just walked all that way in ninety percent humidity (maybe it wasn't that high but it felt like it, okay?) just to be turned away?

There was no way hell she was going to get anywhere near the yellow tape with how many people there were.

"For fuck's sake," she growled to herself, annoyed and sweaty and over it.

Her little outburst earned her the sudden attention of three bystanders. A far off memory clicked in her mind, one that made her feel skittish. There was a flash in the back of her head somewhere, remembering a burning hot sun and covering her head, face, and body with scarves and robes to protect herself from its rays.

Her skittish feeling—that _hunted_ feeling was tied directly to her memory of the burning sun and Hana wanted their attention off of her and she wanted it off now.

"Hey!" One of them called out.

She turned on her heel to leave, the memory of the burning sun overwhelming her.

"Hey, you! Freckles!" Another one tried.

Hana's feet started to carry her away from the path. It was fine. She was going to be fine. She was being overdramatic. Everything was—

A hand was on her arm and she spun around, ready to throw a fist the way Asuma taught her.

"Hey, easy!"

It was a girl. A tall one, matching Hana's own height (something that didn't happen often) with hair that went well past her back that was black as night with eyes to match.

The other two bystanders joined the girl. One was a guy that matched her height with dark hair that was spiked in all different directions, and the other guy was shorter than them both, with a bandage covering a significant portion of his head and face.

"Back off," Hana said right away.

The girl smirked. "We saw you here yesterday. You were talking to a cop and a fed."

Hana frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The guy with spiked hair laughed and crossed his arms. "Come on, Kin. I told you this would happen."

The girl shot him a nasty glare. "Shut up, Zaku."

Hana took a slow step backward, hoping they wouldn't notice as they bickered. But the short one of the group, the one with the bandages, watched her with what only could be described as vicious prey drive.

"What are you doing back here today?" The girl, Kin, asked.

Hana fixed her face into a scowl, one that she knew had nothing on the glare from the bandaged member of their trio.

"What are _you_ doing back here today?" Hana asked, turning the question right back around.

Kin laughed, "we're doing what everyone is doing. We're following the murders." She gave Hana a once over. She looked remarkably unimpressed. "Looks like you are too. So how'd you get across the line yesterday?"

Hana pursed her lips together. She should have brought Genma with her.

"I'm friends with some of the cops," she said.

"Interesting."

Hana straightened up. If these people wanted to hurt her, they would have done it by now. And even more, there were just too many people around and cops close by to try something so stupid.

And if these people were some sort of fanatics following the killer, that might add an interesting spin to her version of the story…

Something that Yamato definitely would not have.

"So are the murders," Hana said.

"On that, we couldn't agree more," the taller one, Zaku, said.

"Think we'll see you around as more people turn up?" Kin asked.

Hana should have said no. Anyone with eyes could see that this was a horrible fucking idea.

But all Hana could think about the edge that these people could give her take on the Ryuchi Killings, and if Mr. Hyuga gave her the story over Yamato, then she would need them as sources to add credibility to her words.

"Yeah… I'll uh. I'll see you around."

* * *

Shisui and Itachi had been at the station all damn day and they had nothing to show for it. He and Itachi spent the day in the conference room, their team came and went, juggling their part with the Ryuchi Killings and other duties, and Shisui was going to lose it.

Currently, the whole team was in the conference room. Raido was going over photographs with Hayate, trying to pick up on anything they might have missed. Aoba was trying to search for the symbol that had been on every victim's neck for its meaning online but was coming up empty-handed. And Itachi and Shisui were trying to figure out when the killer would strike next.

It was painfully, painfully dull.

Having come up empty handed enough times that he was starting to go cross-eyed, Shisui pushed himself back from the table with a loud sigh.

"This sucks," Aoba said, echoing Shisui's sentiments.

"Is anyone hungry?"

Shisui leaned back in the chair to take a look at Raido. It was the first time he had heard Raido actually give his input without first exchanging a glance with Hayate or Aoba.

Whatever it was that Chief Shimura mentioned before, it clearly struck a chord with Raido, because the guy was more nervous than a rookie on their first drug bust.

"Starving," Aoba said.

"Yeah, I'm a little hungry," Hayate added.

"Shisui? Itachi?" Raido asked. His eyes flickered between the two of them and Shisui grinned.

"Hell yeah, I could definitely eat," he said.

Itachi only shrugged, but then again that was Itachi speak for _'yes I am actually hungry. I just don't want to say it because I'm busy.'_

"My roommate offered to swing by with lunch. Is everyone cool with Ichiraku's?" Raido asked.

"Yeah, tell him I'll get the usual," Aoba said as he redirected his attention to the computer.

"Me too," Hayate said with a cough.

Shisui raised an eyebrow. "This a regular thing?"

Raido cleared his throat and tried to explain, but he couldn't because Aoba looked away from the computer with a shit-eating grin.

"Anytime Raido works late his roommate brings him lunch. Then we convince Raido to convince Genma to also bring us food," Aoba snickered as he said it, and Shisui narrowed his eyes and shot Raido a look.

"To be fair we were all friends in high school and college, so it's not that weird," Raido said.

Shisui could feel one eyebrow raise above the other. "Never said it was."

"C'mon, Raido," Aoba rolled the computer chair over to where Raido was seated with Hayate and threw an arm around his neck. "It's a sweet setup you got. I'd love to have a roommate bring me lunch and coffee and whatever the hell else I want. But instead of that I just got a girlfriend so—"

Raido shoved Aoba off and scowled hard enough to shatter glass.

It was definitely the most personality he had seen out of the scarred officer.

Aoba snickered and even Hayate, whose neutral expression never faltered, had a ghost of an amused smile on his face.

"Fuck you guys," Raido said. He huffed and looked between Shisui and Itachi. "What do you guys want from Ichiraku's?"

Shisui wasn't sure how much time went by between when they all told Raido what they wanted for lunch and when Raido's roommate finally showed up, but he was beyond grateful. It was just what he needed to feel refreshed and reenergized.

Raido's phone buzzed on the table, he left the conference room, and then returned carrying a paper cup, a bag of food, and a familiar looking man with a second bag of food.

"Long time no see, Genma," Aoba said. He pushed himself away from the computer and walked over to where they were setting the food down on the table.

"Sarutobi not with you?" Hayate asked. He hadn't gotten up yet from his seat and looked almost bored.

"That doesn't happen very often," Aoba quipped. He was already digging through the bags.

"Yeah, I don't know. I think she was getting together with her brother or something," Genma said.

He looked over at Itachi and Shisui and nodded at them both.

Shisui definitely recognized him.

It was the guy's long hair and bandana that was tied around his head that triggered the memory of him. He had been the other person with Hana at Naka Park, standing behind the police tape while she crossed it.

"Hey man, thanks for picking up the food," Shisui said.

"Yes, thank you," Itachi added. "It's appreciated."

Genma shrugged. "No problem. Not like I never do it."

Genma eyes stayed on Shisui for a moment longer than necessary, and that's when Shisui knew that he recognized him too.

He didn't bring it up though, and if Genma wasn't going to bring it up, then Shisui wasn't going to either. Not when he had enough things to worry about with the case. Plus, Itachi scolding him for thinking about a girl when he was supposed to be working definitely wasn't something he wanted to subject himself to.

"With Raido on the case you're going to be bringing us food a hell of a lot more often now," Aoba jested. He elbowed Genma in the ribs and Genma elbowed him right back.

"Right, not like I have a job or anything. Feeding your sorry ass is my top priority," he said sarcastically to Aoba.

"What do you do for work?" Shisui asked curiously, even though he already had a pretty clear idea.

Genma reached into his pocket and pulled a toothpick from it and immediately began to chew on it.

"I'm a journalist," Genma answered.

Shisui couldn't help it. His curiosity was going to be the death of him.

"Yeah? Where at?"

Genma wasn't stupid. He definitely picked up on Shisui's implication. He knew that it wasn't Shisui wanting to know where Genma worked, but rather where Hana worked.

Call him paranoid all you want. Shisui was an Uchiha and an FBI agent. A healthy dose of skepticism was ingrained into his very being.

Genma was spared from answering when Aoba accidentally bumped into Raido while pulling food out of the bag, and made the liquid in Raido's paper cup spill across his hand and wrist.

Raido hissed in pain and put the cup down as he shook his hand out.

"Seriously, Aoba?" Raido huffed. Shisui could see his hand turning red from what he assumed was spilled tea.

"Hey, watch it," Genma snapped. He gave Aoba's shoulder a shove and Aoba adjusted his glasses with a frown.

"Christ, Genma. Relax. I wasn't trying to hurt him. It was an accident."

Genma just scowled until Hayate broke the tension in the room with (what Shisui was starting to realize was normal) a series of rattling coughs.

"Ookay," Shisui hummed under his breath. He stood beside Itachi and shared a brief look of _'I have no idea what's going on here'_.

"Next time you see Sarutobi tell her she owes me twenty bucks for that game," Aoba said to Genma after the tension dissipated when Raido was clearly just fine.

"Yeah whatever," Genma said. He put his hands in his pockets and raised his chin. "Later guys."

"Thanks, Genma," Hayate said.

Shisui and Itachi both thanked him as well, and then the long haired man was walking out with Raido behind him.

They all began to eat their lunch, grateful for the break of pouring over paperwork and other bullshit. But it was quiet and Shisui wasn't one for long stretches of silence, so he broke it.

"So is this Sarutobi person Genma's girlfriend?" Shisui asked. He didn't really care about the answer, but it was better than sitting in uncomfortable silence with a bunch of strangers.

Aoba shook his head and then patted Raido hard enough on the back to hear it across the room.

"Nah. Genma's not with anyone. Isn't that right, Raido?"

Raido heaved an exasperated sigh. "I swear to God, Aoba. If you don't cut the shit—"

"Hana Sarutobi." It was Hayate who interrupted Raido's threat. He looked at Shisui as he spoke. "We've all been friends since we were just kids. Genma got her a job at his newspaper a few months ago when she got back from Ame."

Shisui stared dumbly, primarily letting two pieces information sink in.

Her full name was Hana Sarutobi and…

"Ame? What the hell was she doing over there?" Shisui blurted in disbelief.

Aoba waved his hand in a bored manner. "Ah, she was working on something. Not long before that, she was over in Suna during their political uprising."

Shisui could feel his mouth drop almost wide open.

"That's quite impressive," Itachi said.

"Or stupid," Aoba said right back. "Why the hell anyone in their right mind would want to go to Suna or Ame—I got no clue."

Shisui tried to work out the timeline in his head. If she had been in Ame within the last year, she would have been over there during their civil war.

"Leave it alone," Raido said. "You know she's always been restless."

Shockingly enough, it was Hayate who actually chuckled under his breath and said a barely audible, "that's one way of putting it."

Shisui picked at his lunch, his head moving at a million miles a minute.

Well, his one-night-stand just got a hell of a lot more interesting…

* * *

By the time Hana got back home, all she wanted to do was shower and wash the sweat from her body. Her apartment was still approximately a million degrees. The humidity was still about a thousand percent. And Mr. Hyuga still had not emailed her back.

So she busied herself by opening every window in the apartment, showering in cold water, and then walking around her room in nothing but a towel and digging for something to wear that was lightweight and breathable.

What she should have been doing was looking for a number to call to get someone to look at her AC, but that could wait.

Well. Not really. She felt like she was melting but whatever.

Hana sighed and grabbed her phone, still wearing only her towel, and out of an obsessive habit, refreshed her email—

And there it was!

A response from Mr. Hyuga sitting in her inbox sent only a few minutes ago.

'_Sarutobi,_

_While I do not appreciate you crossing the line like this, and while I strongly disagree with your behavior approaching this topic, I have to admit that you have impressed me._

_I'm not sure how you got a statement from the police that differs from the statement they gave at the press conference, and I'm not sure how your details about the crime scene are so clear and distinct._

_However, so long as you continue to write articles of this caliber, the story is yours._

—_H. Hyuga_

_PS - No. I will not protect you from Yamato should he choose to retaliate.'_

Hana actually squealed like a teenager and jumped up and down in excitement, smacking her toe on her bed frame in the process.

She squeaked in pain and sat on her bed to cradle her throbbing foot, but still was about to start bouncing off the walls in excitement.

She did it. She got the story.

She got something that was _meaningful_ for the first time in months.

She smiled so hard that her cheeks hurt and her eyes watered and she lied down in her bed, rereading the email about a thousand times.

Hell, she was in such a good mood that she even started to clean up her apartment.

* * *

_***Author's note***_

_**Thank you SO MUCH Akona, Honestlyxx, and shisui shisui kun for the reviews! Feedback is always SO appreciated!(:**_


	4. Chapter 4

_***Posting this to distract myself from the disappointment that was the NHL this week.**_

_**I hate Jersey. I hate New York. And I hate my team's president (((:***_

* * *

It was starting to get late, already almost 9:00pm and Shisui was both tired and eager to get the hell out of there so he could see a certain freckle-faced journalist.

Aoba, Hayate, and Raido had already left, leaving just Shisui and Itachi at the station after hours.

About to leave for the night to meet up with Hana, Shisui pulled out his phone to send her a text.

Only instead of texting her right away, he noticed an unopened message that was sent to both Shisui and Itachi from Fugaku himself.

"Itachi," Shisui said. "Look at your phone."

Itachi didn't argue and pulled out his own phone, and judging by the way his eyebrows furrowed, he was just as confused as Shisui was.

'**You both need to watch yourselves around the press. No use in panicking the public or tipping off the killer.'**

"What does that even mean?" Shisui asked.

Itachi shook his head. "Not sure."

It just took a quick search to see what Fugaku was talking about.

_Allied Network, The Konoha Post _and other smaller networks and newspapers had article after article published, suggesting that the city wasn't safe and that the citizens needed to demand better of their police force.

Shisui groaned and rubbed a hand over his face at the articles. Nothing good could come from the type of hysteria that these stories would cause.

"Look at this," Shisui said. He handed his phone over to Itachi and his cousin frowned.

"And you want to go out with a journalist tonight," Itachi mumbled.

Shisui could feel his lips betray himself and twitch downward. His cousin was right. So Shisui took his phone back and typed in the name 'Hana Sarutobi' and waited for the search results.

The first search result wasn't an article or even the newspaper she worked for, but rather an article written by _Allied Network_ published some time ago with the headline "**UNIVERSITY OF KONOHA STUDENT HANA SARUTOBI INVESTIGATES WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT AND FREES MAN FROM DEATH ROW"**

Shisui blinked at it like an idiot and clicked right on the link.

There were a lot of words and dense paragraphs on the screen, and while Shisui wasn't an idiot and didn't normally have a problem reading an article like that, his eyes were tired from his day of scrutinizing case files, so he skimmed it instead.

The gist was that in her final year of college for her senior project, investigative journalism major Hana Sarutobi went deep in on an old court case that convicted a man named Zabuza Momochi of several accounts of first-degree murder that took place in the city of Kiri and sentenced him to the death penalty. Shisui likely missed other details due to him skimming it, but he got was that she went back and interviewed anyone who was connected with the case. That included, friends, family, supposed witnesses, former classmates, attorneys, even the judge and got their individual sides of the story.

She wrote the piece so well and got so much information, that by the time she presented the project and her take on what happened to Zabuza Momochi, that she made almost everyone wonder if he really committed those murders or not, as most of the evidence in the case had been shaky and circumstantial at best.

And when Shisui read further ahead, he saw that her mentor and professor had been impressed enough to get the story published. The piece then gained enough traction that by the time she graduated the case was reopened and only a few months later the man was acquitted and released from death row and prison altogether.

Honestly? He was impressed.

And a little intimidated.

When Shisui was a senior in college he was at the bars and showing up to class only for exams. He passed with slightly-above-average grades and walked away from college with a degree in criminal justice and joined the FBI only a few months later.

But freeing a man from death row?

That was some next level shit.

Shisui went back and looked at the rest of the search results. There were mentions of awards she won for pieces on Suna and Ame, but he wasn't sure he had the stomach to read either of those stories — regardless of how curious he was.

And then, further down, he saw her name on a _Byakugan Times_ article. It wasn't a highly esteemed article. It wasn't the tale of freeing a man from death row or some other deeply moving piece.

It was just an article recapping an awards show, which celebrities won which awards, what they wore, and who they went with.

It was ordinary and unremarkable.

_Beautifully_ fucking ordinary.

Shisui felt a little stupid and even guilty for expecting the absolute worst of a girl he barely knew. He asked her what she did for work and she told him that she covered celebrities, and sure enough, that's exactly what she did.

He had been working himself up over nothing.

"I just looked her up," Shisui said.

"And?"

"And nothing. The recent articles written by her are all celebrity oriented—which is exactly what she told me she did."

Itachi nodded, but there was a tightness in his shoulders that worried Shisui.

"Come on, Itachi. Do you really th—"

"I just don't want another Yumi situation," Itachi said right away.

Shisui's stomach knotted. Always back to fucking Yumi. Why couldn't Itachi just see that she was in the past and that was where she was going to stay?

"It's just sex," Shisui said. He hated how serious his voice was. He wasn't some brokenhearted schoolboy. Why did he have to sound like he was?

Itachi nodded. Shisui didn't know if his cousin was nodding because he actually trusted him or if because he pitied him, but all Shisui knew was that he was tired from work and really just wanted to have a beer and get into bed with someone to clear his head.

He stood up and threw his nylon FBI jacket on.

"Are you coming home tonight?" Itachi asked.

Shisui grinned. "Probably not."

Itachi sighed. "Didn't I tell you to relax with the one-night-stands?"

Shisui grabbed his phone and typed out a quick text to Hana before he said, "wouldn't this technically count as a two-night-stand?"

Shockingly enough, there was a tiny, barely noticeable, hardly-even-there, amused smile on Itachi's face.

That was more than enough for Shisui, and any guilt he had about going out was gone in an instant.

"See you tomorrow!"

* * *

The bar Hana met Shisui at was a tiny, hole in the wall place. There were little booths against each wall, a few tables in the middle of the place, and there was a singular bar that sat situated against the back wall, right by the door that led to the kitchen.

The dim lights, muffled music, and smoky air from people sneaking in blunts all made Hana think of the bars in Suna (only instead of the smoke being from blunts, it had been from hookah) and honestly? She loved it.

She found Shisui seated in a booth with a beer, scrolling on his phone.

Damn. Hana had _great_ fucking taste.

How he managed to look so put together after a long day of work, she had no clue. Aside from his curly hair that was a little bit messy and a slightly wrinkled t-shirt, he looked good.

Really good.

She should have put on eyeshadow or eyeliner or something other than just mascara.

But whatever. It's not like it was that big of a deal. The bar had dim enough lighting and she already slept with the guy. So did it really matter if she showed up dressed on the more casual side?

She didn't think so.

"So the big bad fed found time to get away from high profile murder case, huh?"

She slid into the seat across from him and Shisui looked up right away with those intense dark eyes.

He shoved his phone in his pocket without missing a beat and flashed her the most disarming smile she'd ever seen in her life.

"Told you I always have time for a pretty face," he said easily.

She scoffed and grabbed the beer list, letting her eyes scan over the menu as she said, "say that to all your one-night-stands?"

He laughed under his breath and was quick when he responded.

"Only the ones I go on a second date with."

Oh, he was smooth and Hana hated herself for how easily he made her want to smile. So she pressed her lips together to try and hold one back, which she knew did practically no good because in her peripheral vision she could just _see_ how smug he looked.

"Is that what this is?" She looked up at him, her head still pointed downward at the beer list. "A second date? When was the first one?"

His smirk became a grin and one shallow dimple pierced his left cheek.

"All right. Maybe this is the first date then."

She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling. She seriously had to watch herself and not forget what she was supposed to be doing. She wasn't getting drinks with him just because he was a babe (or because she may or may not wanted to jump his bones).

She was getting drinks with him to see if he would talk about the Ryuchi Killings.

Before she got the chance to say anything back, their server came over to the table to take her drink order and Hana settled for the cheapest beer on the list.

The server wasn't even more than three steps away before Shisui teased her.

"Seriously? You like that crap?"

She met his eyes and gave a small shrug. "Not really, but my bank account does."

He made a sound that almost sounded like a 'tsk' and shook his head.

"I'm paying. Get whatever the hell you want."

"How sweet," she said. "But seriously, it's fine."

He smirked. "Suit yourself. But if you get an awful hangover tomorrow that's on you."

They went back and forth like that for a little bit. Bantering, teasing each other, you name it. It was surprisingly easy to talk to him, and she appreciated that. Hana knew she could sometimes be difficult to talk to (Genma told her on more than one occasion that she had too much of a one-track mind) but it didn't seem all that hard for Shisui.

She was starting to wonder if anything was difficult for the guy.

"So are you from Konoha? Or are you just out here for work?" Hana asked when there was a slight lull in the conversation.

Shisui took a sip of his beer before he answered.

"Nah, I'm from here. I grew up in a town a couple miles outside the city and I live downtown now. I just travel for work," he said.

Hana nodded and ran a finger along the rim of her beer glass.

"Do you travel a lot then? I always thought feds were pretty local."

Shisui leaned his cheek against his hand and let his eyes graze over her. Christ, the way Shisui looked at her was enough to make her already feel hot and bothered.

There was a twinkle in his eye when he said, "I am for the most part. But my cousin and I work really specific cases, so—"

"Like serial killer cases?" Hana quipped, already trying to purse her lips to hide a self-satisfied smile.

Shisui paused for a moment, but then in another moment he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, making his curly hair messy in the most adorable way possible.

"That's right," he said.

Hana filed that little piece of information away in the back of her head. All of the articles went back and forth between dubbing the Ryuchi Killings work of a serial killer or work of a sort of spree killer, but Shisui just confirmed otherwise.

"Is it just the two of you then? Working the case I mean," she said.

"For the most part. We have a team, but Itachi and I do most of the heavy lifting," he explained between sips of beer. "In fact, some of your buddies are on my team."

He held her gaze with his own and Hana had a hard time looking away. Was this how he looked at people he was investigating? Was this how he interviewed suspects? Was she just being paranoid?

Probably all three.

"What makes you say that?" She asked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.

Shisui smirked into his beer and said, "well you came up when Genma stopped by with lunch."

"Genma stopped by with lunch," she repeated. She tried to be nonchalant with a quiet laugh and looked away to take a sip of her beer. "Raido must be on your team then."

It was Shisui's turn to chuckle softly. "Yeah. Aoba was giving him tons of shit for it."

Hana waved her hand dismissively, "of course he was. Leave poor Raido alone. He means well."

"Is he…?" Shisui trailed off and let his silence finish the question.

She fiddled with the hair-tie around her wrist.

"Honestly, I have no idea," she said. "I just know how he is about Genma—so we just don't bring it up."

"Ah," Shisui said.

It was more information than she had before. Both Aoba and Raido were working the case, and that was something Hana definitely wouldn't forget.

"Don't tell him I told you that," she said right away. "He'd never forgive me."

Shisui held his hands up in defense. "Your secret's safe with me… Scratch that. Raido's secret is safe with me."

She didn't know why, but hearing Shisui say that he was willing to keep Raido's secret made her feel some type of way, almost warm and fluttery and—goddamnit _stop_.

"I appreciate that," she said.

"No problem, Freckles," he said right back.

It caught her off guard faster than she could have imagined, the little nickname, and Hana straightened her back and cocked her head to the side.

"Freckles?" She said. She busied herself with downing the rest of her beer and cleared her throat awkwardly after she emptied the glass. "Did I say you could call me that?"

He grinned now, a big toothy one that was laced with a schoolboy charm.

"Couldn't help myself. And I figured you had enough freckles that plenty of people probably call you that," he said.

Hana could have laughed despite being so caught off guard.

"No one but my brother since we were kids. Is that what you want me to associate you with? My older brother?"

Shisui groaned and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head vigorously as he did.

"Oh Christ, hell no." He crossed his arms over his chest and holy shit did he have broad shoulders. "Forget I said that. Can't have you thinking that about me… Not with the things I wanna do to you."

That smooth, cheeky bastard. In an instant, her whole reason for going out with him in the first place was forgotten because she was too flustered, with cheeks on fire and what the hell was wrong with her? Since when did a stupid little comment like that fluster her? Last she checked she wasn't some prude?

"You are so extra, do you know that?" She finally said back.

Shisui let out a laugh that rang in her ears like soft thunder during a summer storm.

"Don't act like you don't like it," he remarked.

She rested her chin on her hand and looked him right in those intense, dark eyes.

"I plead the fifth."

Those dark eyes twinkled and he knocked back the remainder of his beer as well before he said an exaggerated, "yeah, that's right. Talk the law to me."

A light laughed bubbled in Hana's chest and she didn't even bother trying to hide it as she said, "oh my God. You are ridiculous."

Shisui dropped the cocky act and laughed.

"As long as you keep bushing all pretty like that, I'll keep doing it."

Hana tried not to let the 'pretty' comment get to her. She wasn't someone to be won over with a handful of compliments and a charming smile. But then again, she never talked to a guy who was anywhere near Shisui's caliber. So yeah. Maybe she was a _little_ charmed and into it.

It really didn't matter. Nope. Not at all. Not when she was trying to get information out of him. Maybe pillow talk would be the best method since clearly going out for drinks was not.

"All right then. Come on, Mr. Extra," she said.

Shisui narrowed his eyes. "Where we going?"

"My place. It's cheaper to drink at home than at a bar," she said. She swung her purse over her shoulder and looked at him, waiting for him to follow.

"Hey, I told you I would pay," he said. But he was already fishing his wallet out and throwing a couple of bills on the table.

"So does that mean you _don't_ want to come home with me?" She teased.

"Hell no," he said. He stood up and she could feel the corner of her lips trying so hard to pull upwards into a smile. "Take me home. Tie me up. Do whatever you want with me."

She laughed again and started to lead them out of the bar.

"Oh my God, stop talking."

* * *

Hana Sarutobi had the prettiest blush that Shisui had ever seen, and it was too easy to make her blush for him to even think about stopping. All he had to do was tease her just a little bit and her cheeks would be on fire, drawing attention to freckles that peppered her whole face.

When they met for the first time at a bar, they both had been drunk. Shisui didn't remember much from that initial night, but what he did remember was seeing a tall girl who almost stood eye level with him, with freckles and a killer smile, and being so goddamn weak in an instant that he just had to talk to her.

This time (when they were both sober) was a little different.

She wasn't as bold. She blushed and laughed more. And damn it all, it did things to him.

They drove to Hana's place in separate cars. She didn't live far from the bar and lived in a shockingly nice apartment complex—especially when compared to some of the other places in the city and his own. Even from outside he could see the ridiculously tall windows, marble flooring, and hanging chandelier in the entry hall of the building.

He parked in the visitor's lot and walked over to the front door of the complex where she waited for him, and looked around with his hand on the back of his neck.

"Damn. This place is nice," he said.

"Oh," Hana muttered. "Yeah, I guess. My dad picked it out."

He narrowed his eyes, following her through the building and to her individual apartment.

"Your dad?" He asked.

"Yeah," she coughed awkwardly. "It's kind of a long story, but trust me. This place wouldn't have been my first choice. Not even a year ago I was sleeping on the ground every night."

They walked into the apartment, kicking their shoes off by the front door.

"What does that mean?"

"That would be something that belongs on the list of things not to discuss with your one-night-stand," she said with a pretty smile.

Shisui smiled back.

He had a feeling that 'sleeping on the ground' referred to the time she spent in Suna or Ame, but if she didn't want to talk about it, then he would leave it alone.

He had to admit though, he was curious as all hell about it.

"Is that all I am? Your one-night-stand?" He teased.

She looked over her shoulder with her hand in that sandy brown hair of hers, pushing it out of her face, and gave him a smile that was bright enough to power a city.

"You tell me," she said.

He couldn't help it. He had to do it.

He walked right over to her with long strides and reached his hand out to pinch her ass in one quick motion.

"I'm whatever you want me to be," he drawled.

She squeaked when he pinched her and then swatted his arm, calling him 'extra'.

He snickered to himself when they walked further into the apartment, and Shisui became all too aware of the sudden sticky heat that was on him.

"Any reason why it's a thousand degrees in here?" He asked. He pushed his own hair back away from his forehead when he could feel himself beginning to sweat. Hana frowned, drawing attention to a little crease between her brows.

"Sorry," she said. "My AC broke and my brother wasn't able to fix it. I gotta call someone."

He followed her into the kitchen. It was a small room with dark countertops and more cabinets than he knew what to do with. There were some mugs in the sink and a french press on the counter with the used grinds still sitting in it, but other than that, it was pretty sparse.

Yeah, it could use some tidying up, but despite his being a neat freak, he was more interested in something else.

Mainly said freckled brunette in front of him.

"That's all right," he said. He leaned against the wall and watched as she walked over to the fridge. She bent forward to grab some beers, and he smirked to himself as he let his eyes linger on her ass.

When she turned back around, she caught him staring and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Can I help you?" She quipped. She turned her back to him again, pulling a bottle opener out of one of the many drawers and going to pop the caps off.

Figuring 'why the hell not', Shisui walked over to Hana with her back still turned to him and placed both of his hands on either side of her hips.

"You can," he murmured, putting his lips right against her ear.

He felt it when a shiver wracked through her body and could feel his smirk widen. He tightened his fingers around her hips and was more than pleased with himself when he could feel her begin to lean back into him.

"Yeah?" She said, her voice softer than a feather.

"Mhm."

"You don't waste any time do you?" She retorted. Shisui chuckled under his breath and brought a hand up from her hips to brush her hair away from her shoulder and dip his head down to kiss her exposed neck.

She let out a soft little breath and shifted around so she faced him. Then she brought her hands up to cup his face and pull him in for a heated kiss.

Shisui kept her pinned against the counter as he deepened the kiss, pulling away only to lift her little white crop top over her head.

There was this pretty little amused half grin on her face as she let him undress her. Shisui cracked a smile and kissed his way along her jaw, down her neck, and across the exposed part of her chest.

"Something funny?" He asked between kisses.

"No," she said in an almost sing-song voice. "You're just very eager."

Shisui smirked against her skin, holding in a soft laugh, and brought himself back up so he could make eye contact with her.

"Who said I was eager?" He asked under his breath.

Hana held his gaze with ease and raised her chin ever so slightly.

There was something that Shisui could appreciate about being with a girl who almost stood eye level with him. He was tall and had been his whole life, so he was used to being with girls much shorter than him. He was fine with being taller, preferred it the way most guys did, but it definitely got old—having to constantly bend way down to kiss a girlfriend or even hug her. But being with a girl who was only shorter than him by like an inch or two?

He could dig that.

He just liked being able to kiss his way down Hana's body without having to put his neck out to do so or having to lift her up onto a counter (not that he was opposed to that—because he definitely was not).

"You didn't have to say it," she remarked as those hazel eyes flitted across his face. "You undressing me already says it all."

Shisui let one eyebrow arch above the other, and keeping eye contact with her the whole time, reached one hand to the back of his collar and tugged his shirt over his head, tossing it on the floor.

"It's just hot in here," he said, feeling his lips betray him and pull into a grin without his permission.

He watched the way her eyes fell to his lips and watched him grin at her, and was more than amused with the way she cracked an equally wide grin and filled the room with gentle laughter.

"You are so extra_,_" she joked before she tugged him back into a hot kiss.

They stayed like that for a little while longer, making out and groping at each other like teenagers in the kitchen until Hana finally had enough waiting and led him to her bedroom.

Shit, the sex was so good he didn't even mind the heat.

* * *

"Fuck, why is it so _hot?_" Shisui complained. He kicked the bedsheet away from his legs and groaned.

Hana sat up in the bed and rolled her eyes. She grabbed the sheet that Shisui kicked away and wrapped it around her exposed body. She then walked over to the fan that sat in her window and turned it on high.

"I already told you my AC was broken. Quit your bitching," she teased. Then she walked out of the room, still wrapped only in the bedsheet.

Shisui could have laughed at himself, but fucking hell he was hot.

He huffed and sat up in the bed, letting his back rest against one of Hana's many throw pillows.

He looked around her bedroom. It was a decent size, bigger than his own room (granted, he did give Itachi the master), but it looked a little smaller because of the random shit everywhere.

Shisui knew that he was a little bit of a neat freak, so he didn't expect everyone to have an immaculate living space. Once Shisui's father died, he moved in with his uncle and was forced to become almost neurotic about cleanliness. Fugaku Uchiha ran a tight ship, so yeah. He was a neat freak, and so were both of his cousins. Whatever.

He didn't expect everyone to have a perfectly clean living space, but he was still a little overwhelmed at the random clutter.

Hana's room wasn't covered in trash or dirt or anything like that—Shisui would have bounced if that was the case—but rather there was random clutter on places like her windowsill, her dresser, on the nightstand, on the floor next to the nightstand…

It was just random clutter consisting of photographs, newspapers, magazines, more photographs, notebooks, pens, a DSLR camera, lenses for it, just so much _random shit_.

He just wanted to pick everything up, assemble it in a tidy pile, and shove it away in a closet somewhere so it could be out of sight, out of mind.

When Hana returned, she was holding two beers and Shisui took one, thankful for the cold drink.

"Thanks," he said right before he took a long swig in an attempt to cool down.

She sat on the edge of the bed, took a sip of her own beer and then set it on the nightstand. She then let out a yawn and stretched one arm over her head, using her other to hold the sheet to her chest.

Shisui let his eyes lazily drag across her.

Not only was Hana tall with long legs, but she was actually a little on the lanky side. She might have made a good basketball player the more he thought about it. And there was something refreshingly unkempt about her. Sex hair aside — he kinda dug the whole confident-but-casual thing she had going on.

Definitely not his usual type.

Which was probably a good thing. Bombshells were too much goddamn work.

"Does the fed have anywhere to be?" She asked. She turned her hazel eyes back to him after she finished stretching.

Shisui decided that he liked the color of her eyes, a pretty cross between a grey-green and a light brown.

"Nah," he said. He put the beer to his lips and downed more of it as his eyes drifted across the exposed parts of her body. "Kicking me out, Sarutobi?"

She made a little sound that sounded like a cough and a laugh, "if I wanted to kick you out I would have done it already."

Shisui could believe that. Especially considering the articles he saw about her.

"And I have a first name," she tacked on.

Shisui could feel his eyebrows raise at that.

Interesting.

"Yeah? Don't like being called by your last name? All of your buddies at the station call you that."

She shook her head and grabbed her beer off the nightstand.

"My _buddies_ call me that because it was the only way their parents would let them hang out with a girl after hours when we were kids," she said. There was a mischievous glint in those hazel eyes and Shisui found himself beginning to smirk without even realizing it.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she said. A smile flickered across her freckled face. "It was always _'we're gonna go over Sarutobi's'_ or _'I'll be home later. Gonna go hang out with Sarutobi'_. Pretty sure their parents thought I was my brother for the longest time."

Shisui began to snicker. Based on first impressions, none of that even remotely surprised him—especially when he considered someone like Aoba.

"And how long did that work?" He asked, a little more curious than he cared to admit.

"Longer than it should have," she said with a chuckle. "How 'bout I start calling you by your last name?"

Shisui let out a laugh and shrugged.

"Go for it. I go by my last name every day."

"What is your last name?" She asked nonchalantly, knocking back more of her beer.

Shisui finished the rest of his beer and then sat the empty bottle on the nightstand.

"Uchiha," he answered.

"All right then, _Uchiha_," she said. And damn, she could not have looked anymore proud of herself if she tried and he wasn't too proud to admit that it was cute as shit.

"Okay, I changed my mind," he started. He leaned forward and plucked the almost finished beer from her hand, setting it on the nightstand. "I don't want you moaning 'Uchiha' during sex."

She laughed and let him pull her into his lap so her bare legs straddled either side of him. Normally Shisui would have been too hot to want someone so close to him, but with the stress from work, he could give a shit about the fact that they were both sweaty and probably a little uncomfortable because of it.

"No?" She quipped.

He buried his face in her neck, kissing the soft skin there and pulling her harder against him when he could feel her legs quiver.

"No," he whispered, putting his lips right against her ear.

He liked the way she squirmed against him and _fuck_, he was already ready to go again.

Shisui was already tugging the bedsheet away, slanting his lips against Hana's when his goddamn phone started buzzing from his discarded pants on the floor.

"Fucking hell," he hissed.

He got out of bed and grabbed the phone from the pocket, expecting to see a call from Itachi or someone on the team or hell, even Sasuke. But…

Yumi was calling him?

Shisui stared in horror at her name on his screen for a beat longer than appropriate because Hana's voice from behind him broke the trance he'd fallen into.

"You gonna answer that?" She asked.

"Wha?" He said, looking over his shoulder for a second. He could feel the phone continue to vibrate in his hands and Shisui silenced it, carrying the phone over to Hana's cluttered nightstand and putting it on top of a folded newspaper.

"I hope that wasn't related to your murder case," Hana said.

Shisui sat on the edge of the bed and clenched his hands in and out of fists to ease the shaking there.

"Oh. No," he said. Christ, he hated how much tension there was in his throat.

"Yeah? You look pretty freaked out," she said. Hana's fingertips grazed his side, just across his ribcage and he involuntary shivered. "Seriously. If you need to call one of the guys on your team or whatever, go right ahead. Pretend I'm not even he—"

He looked over his shoulder and gave her a tight smile.

"Are you always this curious?" He was actually a little impressed with how light and easy he managed to keep his voice despite the nerves that were just wreaking havoc on his mental state.

She gave him a sheepish smile, one that made her cheeks flush and bring attention to her freckles. And he'd be damned, but seeing that pretty blush on her face made his smile relax into a smaller one, but a realer one.

"To be fair, I _am_ a journalist," she said.

"True," he said. His eyes flitted across her, all pretty and blushing and with nothing but a thin sheet covering her. Why should he let Yumi bother him when there was a beautiful woman just waiting to fall back into bed with him?

Why even bother feeling the unease when he could ignore it entirely by distracting himself with his own pleasure and Hana's?

"Come here," he said under his breath.

Luckily, Hana didn't fight him and she crawled into his lap and kissed him hard enough to make his head spin.

He hardly thought about Yumi the rest of the night.

At least… That's what he told himself.

* * *

_***Author's note***_

_**Fun fact: I actually knew a girl in undergrad who did something kinda similar to Hana here (obviously not to that extent). And y'all knew you weren't gonna get a detailed sexy times scene from me right away. Come on now(;**_

_**Thank you SO much to Kellie, Honestlyxx, Guest, and akagami hime chan for the reviews! Y'all are the BEST. Feedback not only means the world to me but it genuinely helps the story too, so THANK YOU!(:**_


	5. Chapter 5

_***It's been a long week and I am not a cop.***_

* * *

When Sasuke got to Itachi's he was both pleasantly surprised and somewhat confused when his cousin was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Shisui?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi passed him a mug of tea and sat on the other end of the couch while he continued to nurse his coffee.

"With a girl," Itachi said.

Sasuke's eyes almost rolled into the back of his head.

What the opposite sex saw in his idiot cousin, he had no earthly idea. But they must have seen something because the few times Sasuke had gone out to the bar with Shisui, he had seen first hand how easy it was for the guy to take a girl home. All his idiot cousin had to do was just smirk at a girl and then one minute later she would be throwing herself at him.

When Sasuke thought of his cousin, he just thought of a bumbling idiot who was perpetually a hot mess with a little too much energy. Not a ladies man.

Hell. Then there was the fact that Shisui was an FBI agent? That was another thing Sasuke couldn't get his head around.

So again, what the hell the opposite sex saw in his cousin was beyond him.

"How are your classes going?" Itachi asked.

Itachi's ability to know and ask Sasuke about things that were bothering him was uncanny. It used to freak him out when he was younger, but as he got older he started to appreciate it. Sometimes it was easier to talk about those things when Itachi brought them up so Sasuke didn't have to.

"They're fine," Sasuke said. He paused and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and decided to just bite the bullet. "I was offered a research position with one of my professors and I'm not sure if I want to take it."

Itachi nodded in earnest and was quiet as he formulated his thoughts. Sasuke may have refused to admit it out loud, but deep down he did value his older brother's opinion.

"It would look great on a resume," Itachi said.

Sasuke knew he was right, but before he could echo those sentiments, Itachi went on.

"But would you be too stressed? I know you're taking some very difficult classes."

Sasuke busied himself by taking a long, casual sip of tea.

"I can handle it," he said.

Itachi didn't believe him, evident by the crease in his forehead, but he didn't seem to want to bicker or upset Sasuke, so he just nodded and Sasuke was grateful for that. Had Itachi been in his position, he would have taken the research position without a second thought, and Sasuke didn't want or need to dwell on that little fact.

"If you think you can handle it then you know what to do," he said. "I know you'll do great."

"I guess that answers that then," Sasuke said back, feeling a little disappointed but not knowing why.

Itachi gave him a tiny, barely noticeable smile and a comfortable silence settled over them as they drank tea and coffee together as they watched the news.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing that came on the news was a story about the Ryuchi Killings, talking about the victims, where they were discovered, and any potential leads.

And then the news cut back to the anchors who were going on about how Konoha's police department needed to do a better job and that it was the citizens' job to demand more from their police force.

"What do you think about that?" Sasuke asked. He looked over at Itachi and his brother's expression was unreadable.

"Father's not happy with the things the press are saying," Itachi said.

Sasuke didn't miss the fact that Itachi didn't really answer his question, but somehow mentioning their father was more than enough of an answer. Clearly, he wasn't too happy with Itachi and Shisui.

"Father's never happy," Sasuke replied.

If Sasuke didn't know his brother so well, he might have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile on his tired face.

"He'll be happy when he hears about your research position. He'll say how good it is for the family that you're doing something so well respected," Itachi said.

For whatever reason, the thought of telling his parents about the research position never even crossed his mind.

"Yeah," Sasuke muttered. "I guess I hadn't thought about that."

Itachi frowned and shifted on the sofa so he faced Sasuke a little more directly.

"Sasuke, if you think you'll be too stressed then maybe—"

Sasuke set his tea down on the coffee table and stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He didn't want to have this discussion. At least, not right now.

"I've got a lab report to write. I'll see you later," he said.

"Sasuke—"

"You worry too much," Sasuke said dismissively. "I'll be fine, Itachi."

Itachi gave a soft sigh but didn't try to change Sasuke's mind as he headed to the front door.

"Be careful getting home."

Sasuke nodded. "I will."

He slipped out of his brother's apartment and headed in the direction of the subway. Then he pulled out his phone and began drafting an email to Orochimaru.

* * *

Hana was fairly certain that she would have been able to sleep all morning had it not been for Shisui violently thrashing awake.

He jerked up so fast that Hana was pretty sure her bed frame moved and he sucked in a breath so harsh that she had half the mind to wonder if she accidentally was smothering him in her sleep or something.

"Holy shit," Hana said as she woke up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes to see Shisui sitting up in her bed and panting like a dog.

"Sorry," he said through breaths. "I'm sorry."

Hana pushed her hair back and rubbed her eyes.

"You're good," she murmured, still half asleep.

"Where's your bathroom?" Shisui asked in a painfully tight voice.

She could hear a thinly veiled panic in his words and Hana looked up at where he was already swinging his legs over the edge of her bed.

"First door on the right," she said.

He nodded and walked out of the room after slipping on a pair of black boxer-briefs that clung to toned legs.

With a tired sigh, she got out of bed and donned a pair of cloth shorts and a white sports bra since her apartment was still hot as shit, and then began to loosely braid her hair back in an attempt to just cool the fuck down.

She would definitely call someone to look at her AC first thing on Monday because this was absolute hell.

When Shisui came out of the bathroom he looked unsettled to say the very least.

He kept scratching the back of his head, taking really shallow breaths, and rubbing his neck. Hana narrowed her eyes as she watched him.

"Bad dream?" She asked.

Shisui's eyes flickered to hers and he cleared his throat.

"Uh yeah." He gave her a nervous laugh. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she assured. She yawned and lied back down on her bed, stretching her arms over her head and reclining against some of the pillows.

She used to have nightmares like that—really vivid ones that jolted her awake and made her think she was lost in a rainy village or lying on scorched earth. She figured that with Shisui being an FBI agent that he had his fair share of memories that plagued his dreams too.

He didn't get back in the bed with her and instead started to put the rest of his clothes back on.

Hana let her eyes drift over to him, lingering on the muscles of his back before he put his shirt back on.

"Off to catch a killer?" She quipped.

He looked over his shoulder and smirked, though Hana noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes the way it usually did.

That nightmare must have really freaked him out.

"Gonna try to," he said.

"How do you even go about that?" She asked. "Is it like the shows?"

Shisui chuckled under his breath and came back over to the bed, sinking into the space beside her and cracking his neck.

"It's way less exciting than you think," he said.

Hana tried to play it casual and tried to sound almost bored as she pressed him. "Try me."

Shisui's eyes flickered for a brief moment, but if he was bothered or even suspicious, he didn't show it.

"Just mainly consists of going over case files and building a profile for the killer," he said. "There's a lot of research that goes into the murders themselves too. We spend a lot of time pouring over pictures of the bodies and picking up on any details we might have missed."

"Sounds gruesome," she said.

"You got no idea," he said back. He then leaned forward and cupped her face with his hand. "You're too curious for own good."

He silenced her before she could argue by kissing her.

His lips moved against hers slow and easy, and despite the heat, she found herself wanting to close the gap between them, so she leaned further into him and let him pull her closer against her better judgment.

Not that Hana was opposed to going further with him, she most certainly was not. But she was a little frustrated with how tight-lipped Shisui was about everything, and she was even more frustrated with how easily he could steer the conversation away from his work.

How the hell was she supposed to get anything useful out of him if every time she brought up work he sidestepped the topic through sex? What was she supposed to do? Go full blown investigative journalist on him?

Actually. That wasn't a bad idea.

Since pillow talk clearly wasn't the way to make Shisui Uchiha talk, maybe going all in to get to know him better was. She just wasn't sure if she had the time to do that. But then again, there wasn't a way to do that sort of thing half-assed. It had to be all or nothing.

And there definitely was worse company to keep than a guy who looked and flirted like Shisui.

They were interrupted by his phone buzzing on the nightstand, making Shisui pull back from her with a sigh and lazily reach for the device as he casually gave her a once over.

"Yeah?" He answered.

In the silence of her room, the only noise being the hum of her window fan, Hana caught the last half of whoever was on the other line.

"…_been discovered. Get here ASAP."_

Shisui cursed under his breath and wasted no time with getting out of bed and gathering the rest of his things.

"Another body's been found, huh?" She asked.

Shisui's eyes were on her in an instant. He didn't look angry, but rather a little caught off guard.

"Yeah," he said.

Once he had everything, Hana stood up to walk him out, already fiddling with her hair and pushing it back, trying to be nonchalant.

"Well you have fun with your gruesome murder scene," she remarked when they walked down the hall and to the front door of her apartment.

Shisui snickered under his breath and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Lucky for me these murders aren't half as gruesome as some of the others I've seen."

Hana raised her eyebrows curiously. The Ryuchi Killings definitely were not as disgusting as some of the things that happened to the people of Ame, but for a developed city like Konoha? She thought it was pretty brutal.

"I'm curious about what else you've seen if you think these murders aren't that bad," she said, leaning against the wall and watching Shisui dig through his blue FBI jacket for his car keys.

"Next time I'll tell you all about the gruesome cases I've been on," he said.

"Oh, so there's a next time?" She said right away.

There it was, that easy smile that she was realizing was a trademark of Shisui's. Hana bit down on the inside of her lip to keep from smiling like some blushing idiot school girl and tried to keep her expression cool.

"Only if you want there to be," he said easily.

Hana could feel her lips pull upward into a smile against her will and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Next time it is then."

Just like the time she ran into him in Naka Park, Shisui smirked and winked at her just before he walked away.

It took every single ounce of Hana's self control to not get in her car and drive to Ryuchi Caves National Park the second Shisui was gone.

It sucked knowing something that none of her competitors knew and not being able to act on it. And to be fair, she could just go to Ryuchi Caves National Park, but the park was massive and she had no idea where the body was. And she wasn't sure she wanted to run the risk of Shisui seeing her there and ruining things before they even started.

So instead, Hana just took a cold shower to bide herself some time.

* * *

Raido Namiashi had worked more than a few murder cases, all right? This wasn't his first time seeing a corpse, having to look it over, and having to write up a detailed report about it. The first few years of Raido's career he worked the night shift in the inner city and saw more than his fair share of dead bodies. By all means, he didn't have a weak stomach.

But there was something about seeing serial killer victims that made him feel lightheaded.

They were all just so young and had so much to live for. They were just university students trying to make something of themselves. They were pretty much kids. To go from having a bright future to winding up dead in a park with almost all blood drained from your body and weird markings on you?

It was just fucked up.

Raido waited with CSI while the photographer did her thing and tried to see if he could pick up on any clues around the crime scene.

This body was discovered on the wetlands side of Ryuchi Caves National Park, and that made working the crime scene a fucking disaster.

They had to block off an entire area of marshes, and that consisted of trekking through what essentially was a swamp and tying the yellow police tape to a wall of trees on opposing sides of little ponds, and it was just goddamn miserable.

The body was half in one of the ponds and half out of it, and Raido shuddered to think about how much evidence was lost in that water.

"It's about time," came Aoba's voice. "Where you been?"

"Hey, I came as soon as I got the call."

Raido crossed his arms and looked away from the body to see Shisui joining the two of them by CSI. Not far from where he was joining Aoba and himself was Itachi, talking to the person who found the body.

"Late night?" Aoba asked.

"Something like that," Shisui said. He wasn't even looking at Raido or Aoba, and instead was already walking over to the body and crouching down to observe it closely.

"Do we know who it is?" Shisui asked.

"Himuka Suzukaze," Raido answered. "Nineteen years old, University of Konoha student, criminal justice major. She went missing a few days ago after a frat party. Her sorority sisters thought she went home with a guy but she didn't show up to class which wasn't like her and then called in to report her missing."

Shisui let out a heavy sigh and scratched the back of his head.

"She's got that same mark on her that the others had too," Raido tacked on after a moment of silence.

"Figures," Shisui muttered.

He stood back up redirected his attention to Raido.

"Her friends said she went missing after a frat party?" He asked.

Raido nodded. "That's right."

"Think we can get a list of names of people who were there and see if anyone there knows something?"

"I'll reach out to the friend that called in and work from there," Aoba said before Raido got the chance.

Shisui's dark eyes flitted over to Aoba and he nodded.

"Great. Get on that then."

Aoba nodded and headed for higher ground, likely trying to get back to his car so he could get back to the station. Raido hung back, just in time to see Shisui return his attention to CSI.

"Let's move quickly please. Every second she's in there is more evidence we've lost," Shisui said. He then turned around and walked over to Raido. "Who's been questioned at the university?"

Raido pursed his lips and tried to recount the list. "The president gave a press statement after the first two murders but he wasn't interviewed or anything. Friends of the victims at the school have been interviewed along with the faculty members who taught them."

Shisui nodded. "Okay. Let's plan to get a new statement from the president either later today or first thing tomorrow. He might be able to help us put some pieces together."

"Will do. I'll reach out as soon as I get back to the station," Raido said.

"Great," Shisui said. He looked like he was already about to get back to work, but before he could there was the distinct sound of someone gasping.

Raido and Shisui each looked over at where the crime scene photographer was wrapping up and stumbling away from the body, tripping over her own two feet and falling backward.

Shisui and Raido were quick to hurry over to her, and as soon as they were close enough to the body to see the fine details of her face, Raido saw what it was that terrified the girl.

A snake (a big ass one too) slithered out of the victim's mouth and disappeared into the still water of the pond that the body was half in.

Raido felt lightheaded again.

"Yikes," Shisui said, sounding perpetually unbothered for God knows what reason.

"That's so fucked," Raido murmured. His stomach started to churn at the thought of the snake potentially laying eggs in the poor girl's body.

"Maybe it was trying to keep warm," Shisui remarked. He shrugged and plunged his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Hey, at least it's out. Can you imagine how the pathologist would have reacted if a snake slithered out in the middle of the autopsy?"

Shisui's voice was light and breezy and Raido couldn't figure out why the fuck that was the case. Sure, Shisui and Itachi Uchiha were FBI agents who specialized in serial killers. Raido understood that.

But Christ, could the guy at least have the decency to act grossed out like the rest of them? What kind of fucked up shit did he see that a snake slithering out of a dead woman's mouth didn't even phase him?

And Hana was sleeping with that guy? Shit, she was probably just as fucked up then.

"You're not gonna throw up, are you?" Shisui asked after a few moments of silence.

"No," Raido mumbled while his stomach churned.

"Okay good because that would contaminate the crime scene."

Shisui patted him on the back and walked over to Itachi once the younger FBI agent was done questioning the bystander, leaving Raido alone with the girl's waterlogged body.

He should have become a journalist like Genma.

* * *

Hana waited a good few hours before heading down to Ryuchi Caves National Parks to get the information she needed for her article.

When she got there it was pretty easy to figure out where the body had been discovered, as there were cops everywhere. Luckily though, she didn't run into Shisui or anyone she knew for that matter. Well, not quite. She saw Ibiki Morino barking at a group of bystanders who got too close to the yellow tape, but for the most part, it looked like Shisui and his team all already went back to the station.

There were other reporters there in the marshes. Ones from _Allied Network, The Konoha Post, _and smaller lesser known news outlets. And thankfully enough, that group of people from Naka Park that cornered her last time were nowhere to be found.

It was dreadfully uneventful.

So Hana went back home, drafted up an article, sent it to Genma for editing, and then after another few hours, sent Mr. Hyuga the new article.

It wasn't great. Definitely not compared to her first one.

There just wasn't that much information to gather.

The cops were tight-lipped, enforced the police line like absolute hell, and none of Hana's friends were there to even give her the chance to get close to where the body had been. All she picked up on was that this body was found in the wetlands and likely was waterlogged or something.

Hana sighed and pushed herself away from the desk her laptop sat at in her living room and made her way over to her couch where she collapsed onto it.

She stretched out and could feel the sweat bleed through her clothes thanks to her disgustingly hot apartment and let her eyelids flutter shut.

Behind closed eyes, she was somewhere else. Somewhere with cold, damp air and misty rain. Somewhere with kids who played in rainwater while rebels lurked in the shadows and loyalists locked themselves in skyscrapers.

The image then shifted from a broad, sweeping memory to a more precise one. A memory that was made up of a black cell with nothing but a damp cot resting on a concrete floor, and suddenly Hana felt cold.

Her eyes snapped open.

And just like that she was back in her stifling apartment and staring at her ugly popcorn ceiling.

Hana let out a long sigh and rubbed her hands over her face.

She just needed to catch up on her sleep. That's all. Get enough sleep and stop having weird, vivid daydreams.

Yep. That was it. Just needed more sleep.

She pushed herself off of the couch and took heavy steps into her bedroom. She climbed into bed and sank back against her pillows and rolled onto her side. That's when her eyes flitted to the folded newspaper and stack of pictures on her nightstand.

Unable to sit still, Hana propped herself up and grabbed the stack. She flipped through it impatiently, tossing the two week old newspaper onto the floor to throw out later and fingered through the pictures.

They were photographs that she should have framed but never got around to for whatever reason. Old ones from college and Asuma's wedding. Ones that she really needed to get framed already.

The very last picture on the back of the stack was stuck to one in front of it. Hana gently pulled it away and scoffed when she saw what it was.

It was the day she got her award for her Ame piece. The picture was of her holding the framed award surrounded by her mentor Jiraiya, Asuma, and her father.

Hana had always been kinda lanky for most of her life, but she looked sickly thin in the picture and had a not-so-pretty pallor to her gaunt face.

She put the picture at the bottom of the stack again and thought of her father.

He talked to Asuma a little more frequently than he talked to her (not that it was all that often) but it was mainly because Asuma was one of the professors at the University of Konoha and her father was the president of the school. It was probably more out of formality than anything else.

She wondered how her father was doing with all the murders taking place. He took a lot of pride in the school and she knew that his heart probably broke a little bit every day with the Ryuchi Killings.

It might add an interesting spin to get his take on things…

Hana sat up and left her room to grab her cell from the living room and didn't think twice about it before dialing her father's number.

It barely rang twice before her father's gravelly voice filled her ears.

"Hana? What's wrong?"

"What? I can't call my dad every now and then?" She said right back.

There was a brief stretch of silence before her father came back with, "you never have before so I assumed the worst."

She fiddled with the hair tie around her wrist.

"Well my air conditioner is broken so that's unfortunate, but everything else is fine," she said. She tried to keep things casual, knowing how serious her father could be when he was working.

She didn't seem to be doing a very good job.

"I'll send someone out first thing tomorrow morning to fix it."

"Oh. No, Dad, that's not—"

"I won't have you melting over there when we're in the middle of a heat wave."

Hana pursed her lips together and bit down on the back of her bottom lip. She didn't think they were in the middle of a heat wave, but she wasn't going to try and tell her father that when he already made up his mind.

She sighed. "Do you have time tomorrow to meet with me? We can grab lunch or coffee or something."

There was another moment's hesitation from her father.

"You're sure everything's fine?"

"Oh my God," she said with a huff. "Yes! I'm just throwing this out there."

She could hear her father sigh. "I have a very important meeting tomorrow."

There it was. The work related excuse that she and Asuma had both become all too familiar with over the last few years.

"…But we can do lunch right after."

She stared ahead at the wall in disbelief and hesitated a moment too long before she responded.

"Oh… Okay great."

* * *

It was the first time since getting back to Konoha that Shisui felt like they were actually making a little bit of progress with the Ryuchi Killings. They managed to finally block the public from certain sections of the park, there was a strictly enforced curfew for the location as well, they potentially had some leads if they could get in contact with the students who had been at that frat party, and the president of the university was meeting with him and Itachi tomorrow.

Things seemed to be looking up, even if only slightly.

He really just had to be positive or at least try. He learned right when he became an agent that the key to not losing your mind was treading a thin line between hope and realism. You had to be realistic with the horrors of the case, but you couldn't dwell on only the terrible. You had to tread that line.

And that's exactly what Shisui was trying to do.

So the fact that he was trying to be somewhat positive and the fact that he was choosing to look on the "bright" side of the case made what happened with Danzo that much worse.

He had only been at the station for a couple of hours (actually being productive) when Chief Shimura decided to approach him and Itachi and rip them both a new one.

"I was against you two coming here to begin with. It's bad for morale for the feds to come in," he started. "But I let it happen for the good of the city. But ever since you two have been here bodies are turning up left and right at a rate they weren't before. Are you even _trying_ to catch this killer?"

Shisui's first instinct was to simultaneously go on damage control and get on the defensive.

"Whoa, now hang on," he said. "We've only been on this case for what? A few days? We've already managed to finally block the public from sections of Ryuchi Caves—something that should have been done weeks ago mind you—and we're getting a list of names of people to question about the last victim. We're doing everything we can and we're also working with the information that _your_ men have accumulated. So if you have a problem with that, that falls on your men. Not us."

Itachi was next to cut in, probably not too happy with Shisui's defensive tone.

"Chief Shimura, I know how frustrating this is, especially with the press putting the spotlight on you, but we're doing everything we can right now. I'm hoping that tomorrow's interviews will shed some light on things and we'll be able to further the investigation."

Itachi's voice was remarkably cool considering the fact that Shisui knew his cousin didn't like his skills being questioned like that. But then again, Itachi was always calm, cool, and collected. So maybe it wasn't all that surprising.

Chief Shimura scowled harder than Shisui had ever seen Fugaku scowl. And if looks could kill, Shisui would definitely be six feet under.

"I hope for both of your sake that your interviews tomorrow prove to be useful."

Shisui bit his tongue and just waited for Shimura to walk away from them.

It wasn't until he was long gone did Shisui turn to Itachi and say what he wanted to say to the chief of police.

"Last I checked we were under Fugaku's orders. Not his."

Itachi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, silently agreeing.

They were quiet for the rest of the day as they worked. Hell, they were all busy enough that even Aoba was quiet.

Shisui was reviewing the press statement that Hiruzen Sarutobi gave when the murders started and cross-checking it against other testimonies when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He intended on ignoring it entirely. He figured it could have only been Hana since Itachi was the only other person who texted him, and he was sitting across the table. So even though Shisui would have liked to text his two-night-stand and find some time to meet up again, he just didn't have the time.

But then it buzzed again.

And one more time.

"Oh come on," Shisui groaned. He shifted in his seat and fished the phone out of his back pocket, wondering what the actual hell Hana could want (because she really didn't strike him as clingy) and his stomach dropped the minute _her_ name flashed across his screen.

"Shisui," Itachi said.

Shisui swallowed back the bile rising in his throat and looked up to see Itachi's dark eyes carefully trained on him.

"Yeah?" He asked. He cringed when he heard the hoarseness in his voice.

"What's wrong?"

There wasn't a ton that Shisui and Sasuke could agree on, but Itachi's uncanny ability to just know when something was bothering either one of them was one. Any time Sasuke had something going on that he wanted to talk about but didn't want to bring up, Itachi somehow had a way of knowing just what it was and asking. And damnit, he did the same thing with Shisui.

"Nothing," Shisui said.

Itachi frowned and his eyes flitted to Shisui's phone that he was clutching a little too tightly.

"Is that who I think it is?" Itachi asked.

Shisui cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair.

"Depends who you think it is," he said.

Shisui was all too aware of the rest of their team curiously looking over at him and Itachi. Hayate was the least obvious of the bunch, his eyes drifting over from across the table. Raido pretended like he didn't care, but angled his computer chair slightly away from the laptop and pointed it a little more at Shisui, and Aoba just nonchalantly was watching the two of them, not even trying to hide his curiosity.

Itachi's frown intensified and his forehead creased. "What does she want?"

Fucking hell, sometimes Shisui really wondered if Itachi could read minds.

"Fighting with your girlfriend, Uchiha?" Aoba asked. He folded his hands behind his head and lounged back as far as his computer chair would allow.

Shisui forced a tight laugh. "Nah, thankfully I don't have a girlfriend."

"Fuck buddy then?" Aoba asked with a shrug.

"Aoba, shut up," Raido said with a sigh. "You act like you're ten."

Shisui distracted himself by watching Aoba give Raido a devilish grin that was starting to become all too familiar whenever the two of them gave each other shit.

"Aw come on, Raido. Just because you're celibate doesn't mean Shisui has to be."

Raido's cheeks turned red and Shisui remembered Hana's words about him from the bar and suddenly he felt a little bad for the scarred man.

But he didn't get a chance to intervene because Itachi's stare on him was too heavy to ignore.

He sighed and met his cousin's gaze.

"It's fine," he said under his breath.

Itachi did not believe him and kept that worried gaze on him.

As if to prove a point, Shisui found the courage to unlock his phone and read Yumi's texts while Itachi watched him like a hawk.

'**Hey! I heard you were in town and was thinkin we should get together!'**

'**I know ur probs super busy but we can just do lunch if you want'**

'**My treat(:'**

Shisui wondered if impaling himself on his pen would be the best way to avoid telling Itachi about her texts.

"She's just saying hello," he muttered. _Goddamnit,_ why was he still so hoarse?

"If she wants to get together, ignore her. She's not worth your time," Itachi said right away, quiet enough that he very much doubted anyone could hear him over Aoba and Raido's bickering.

"How the hell did you even…" Shisui stopped himself with a frustrated sigh and rubbed at his eyes.

"I mean it." Itachi's voice left no room for argument.

Shisui went to respond and stopped when his fucking phone buzzed again.

'**I know ur ignoring me but I really think this would be for the best'**

He huffed and threw his phone down on the table and simultaneously shoved his seat away from the table and all but jumped out of it.

He stalked out of the conference room without another word, knowing full well that Itachi was probably getting a thousand goddamn questions from Aoba about what just happened, but he didn't care.

Shisui didn't know how he was feeling. He was pissed off, anxious, annoyed, sad and everything in between. And the worst part was that he was at work and couldn't even go for a run to clear his head or drown himself in liquor.

Shit, it wasn't like he could even try to hit up Hana for a quickie or something.

No. It was just him, his stupid fucking thoughts, and Yumi's relentlessness.

He would tell her fuck off. Yep. He would walk right back into the conference room, grab his phone, and tell her that he didn't want anything to do with her and then block her number.

Yeah. That's exactly what he would do.

Totally…

* * *

**_*Author's note*_**

**_Thank you Kellie and Honestlyxx for the reviews(: Drop any feedback you have and lemme know your thoughts! Thanks!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_*I signed up for a half marathon like an idiot. What is wrong with me?*_**

* * *

The University of Konoha had a gorgeous campus. It was located right in the heart of the city and had a trendy downtown vibe yet still maintained plenty of parks and greenery around the campus for a touch of well-manicured nature. Even the buildings were gorgeous, as most of them were made of stone and had a sort of Victorian-esque feel.

Shisui and Itachi walked down a sidewalk that led to the administration building where the heads of the university worked. It was a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze that cooled Shisui off before he even got the chance to start sweating.

All in all, it was a perfect day.

And he was going to spend it working on a serial killer case.

Joy.

"I wonder if Sasuke is on campus," Shisui said, walking down the path beside Itachi.

"I'd say it's likely," Itachi said. "He was offered a position as a research assistant for one of his professors."

Shisui's eyes widened. Leave it to the emo brat to do something so prestigious.

He felt a swell of pride for his little pain in the ass cousin.

"That's awesome!" Shisui said. He could feel his mouth pull up into a grin as he tried to make eye contact with Itachi.

But Itachi didn't look as excited as Shisui felt. His mouth formed a tight line and his dark eyes drifted to the ground.

"I'm worried he'll be too stressed. I don't want him to have a repeat of last year," Itachi said.

Shisui inwardly cringed. He didn't like thinking about Sasuke's mental break last year where he just _snapped_. He had been pulling double shifts at the library, took an overload of classes, and when he came home for winter break and had an argument with Fugaku…

Well basically he snapped and _lost it_ and that's all Shisui wanted to say on that matter.

"He's not working like he was last semester and he's not taking six classes again. Try not to worry too much. He'll pull through like he always does," Shisui said. He offered Itachi a small smile and his cousin sighed when they connected eyes and then gave Shisui a tiny smile in response.

Itachi loved Sasuke more than anything in the world and Shisui loved both of them even more than that.

They were the only family he ever knew following the death of his father.

At the fleeting memory of his father, the watch around Shisui's wrist felt a little heavier as he remembered flashes of a man with gentle eyes and uncharacteristic curly hair for an Uchiha.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts when they reached the looming stone building. There were security guards inside the foyer of the old building, and Itachi and Shisui were quick to show their visitor passes.

Shisui's own college didn't have anything this nice. The administration building at his and Itachi's school was just a small brick building with old carpet and smoked stained walls. It was nothing like this, what with its polished wood floors and Victorian architecture.

They walked to the front desk and an older woman greeted them with a smile.

"What can I do for you?"

"We're here to meet with President Sarutobi," Itachi said.

The woman fiddled with the computer, probably looking through the man's schedule, and Shisui's mind flitted to Hana. He knew that she graduated from the University of Konoha, thanks to the articles he saw and wondered if she had any relation to the president.

Sarutobi wasn't a common last name, but it wasn't entirely rare either. So it was up in the air if she really was related to him or not.

"Ah," the receptionist said. "You must be the FBI agents."

On cue, Shisui and Itachi both produced their badges and flashed them to her.

"Oh my." Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. "You two can get in this elevator right here and take it up to the fourth floor. President Sarutobi's office is at the very end of the hall. I'll let him know you're here."

They both nodded and followed her directions, and Shisui was acutely aware of the way the security guards stared him and Itachi down as they got in the elevator.

The doors shut and Itachi took the moment of privacy as an opportunity.

"Are you going to tell me about that phone call you had with Yumi yesterday?"

Shisui fought back the urge to roll his eyes. Itachi meant well and Shisui loved him for it, but that didn't mean he wanted to talk about this.

"She wasn't going to leave me alone until I talked to her," Shisui said. It was half true. While Yumi was relentless, if Shisui explicitly told her to leave him alone (like he should have) she would have left him alone.

"Hm," Itachi hummed. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. Shisui always kinda hated it when Itachi did that. It made him look too much like Fugaku.

"I'm just gonna get drinks with her tonight to talk," Shisui said. He could feel his stomach twist and hated himself for how worked up he was getting. Hell, even his palms were starting to get sweaty.

"What about your journalist?" Itachi asked.

Shisui frowned. "What about her?"

"Think she'll like you getting drinks with your ex?" Itachi asked.

Shisui could have laughed. "_Pfft_, Hana and I are just messin' around."

Itachi's silence was more than enough of an indicator of how he felt about that. He knew that his cousin didn't approve of him sleeping around, but he figured Itachi probably preferred Shisui hooking up with only one chick compared to random girls every other week.

Nothing more could be said on the subject because the elevator reached the top floor.

The doors opened up to a wide hallway with white walls and that same polished hardwood from downstairs. The ceiling was vaulted and there were portraits of the university's former presidents as well as esteemed faculty and alumni that hung up on the walls.

For as luxurious as it was, with a couple of massive windows and portraits everywhere, the hallway was pretty short. And at the end of the hallway was a single door that was cracked open.

Shisui and Itachi exchanged a glance, silently agreeing on how ridiculous it was that an administration building was so lavish, and then headed towards the door.

They didn't even get a chance to knock before a gravelly voice called out.

"Come in!"

Shisui entered the office first, followed by Itachi.

The office was just as lavish as everything else in the building so far. There were those tall wide windows on opposite walls, a gorgeous hardwood floor with an expensive looking throw rug in the middle of it, and a large mahogany desk with a leather computer chair behind it where Hiruzen Sarutobi sat.

He stood up and walked from around the desk and outstretched a tanned hand.

"Agents," he said.

Shisui shook his hand first. "Call me Shisui."

Sarutobi's eyes flickered for a moment, almost as if he recognized him.

"Itachi," his cousin added.

"Then call me Hiruzen," President Sarutobi offered, looking away from Shisui as if he imagined the whole thing. He then gestured for him and Itachi to sit down across from him as he settled into the leather computer chair behind the desk and shifted a laptop out of the way.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had tired eyes, but kind eyes nonetheless. He was older with already gray hair and a gray beard to go with it. His complexion was tan in a way that Shisui might have envied in his younger years, and despite his age, he sat with a posture that was better than even Itachi's.

"So you're here to interrogate me, is that it?" Sarutobi asked with an almost amused smile.

Shisui gave him a sheepish grin. "I don't know if 'interrogate' is the right word."

"We just want to ask some questions and go over a few things with you," Itachi said.

Sarutobi nodded and folded his hands across each other.

"Anything I can do to help," he said. "All I want is for my students to be safe."

And Shisui believed him. There was an earnest set in his shoulders that was just too subtle to be faked.

"Did you know any of the students personally?" Itachi asked.

Shisui produced a notepad from his jacket and a pen that he twirled around his fingers, carefully listening for an answer and things between the lines.

Sarutobi shook his head. "No. I've known a few of their professors personally, but that's it."

"Which professors?" Shisui asked.

"Jiraiya," Sarutobi began. "He teaches the advanced investigative journalism classes. He was the professor of the very first murder victim."

Shisui jotted that little bit of information down and patiently waited for the president to continue.

"Then there's Orochimaru. He taught Gotta Iburi. I believe he had Orochimaru when he took a microbiology class last semester." The old man paused and fiddled with his beard. "Orochimaru doesn't usually teach microbiology, but we were between adjuncts and I personally asked him to teach it for one semester."

Itachi shifted forward in his seat and said a calm, "what does he normally teach?"

"Biochemistry," the president said right away. "He primarily does research for the school."

Shisui narrowed his eyes and jotted that down as well.

"What kind of research?" Itachi pressed.

Sarutobi sighed, "I'm not quite sure. It's all above my head even though it shouldn't be with how much funding we provide him."

Shisui didn't mean to make a face, he thought his expression was completely even, but Sarutobi took one look at him and a deep frown made itself evident on his aged face.

"I don't pretend to understand every subject taught here at the university. Orochimaru came highly regarded with impressive references and works for less money than he deserves so he can conduct research. If I've said anything to make you suspicious you can just pay his lab a visit. He's usually there daily."

Shisui gave the man a tight smile. "If you don't mind, I think we will."

"Are there any other professors you knew personally?" Itachi asked, steering the conversation away from the tension.

The president gave them each a bitter smirk. "The latest victim, Himuka Suzukaze, was taught by Asuma Sarutobi. My son."

Shisui blinked in surprise and couldn't help it when he turned his head to look at Itachi, and shockingly enough, Itachi wore the same expression on his face.

"I see," Itachi said after he cleared his throat.

Hiruzen Sarutobi only shrugged. "Asuma works in the school of criminal justice. He teaches both the criminal evidence class and some of the physical education courses for our police academy students as well as the criminal justice ones."

Shisui scribbled on the notepad.

So they had a journalism professor who taught the very first murder victim, a science professor who took a pay cut to conduct "research", and a criminal justice professor who was physically capable enough to teach demanding physical education courses for future police officers.

All decent leads for Shisui and Itachi.

And not great for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"And if we wanted to interview all of these professors…" Shisui trailed off, letting the inflection in his voice finish the question.

"Orochimaru and Asuma are on campus today. I don't know when they're in and out of lecture, but I'll give you their contact information so you can arrange something if you're unable to catch them between classes."

"And Jiraiya?" Itachi asked.

Sarutobi shook his head. "Jiraiya isn't teaching this semester."

Shisui narrowed his eyes. "Why is that?"

"He took time off to travel to Mount Myoboku for a piece he was working on," Sarutobi said. He stroked his beard again. "He supposedly was back in town a few days ago and he told me that he would show up on campus if he had time, but I wouldn't hold my breath. When Jiraiya gets his hands on a story he's passionate about he latches onto it like a pitbull and won't let go for anything."

Sarutobi's words tapered off and there was something unsaid there, but Shisui couldn't figure out what it was.

The man's eyes flickered and he gave them a small smile before saying a soft, "it's a trait he's passed on to several of his star pupils."

Shisui may not have known entirely what that meant, because there was a look in Sarutobi's eyes that told him there was more to the story. But what he did know was that he wanted to interview this Jiraiya person.

Teaching the very first murder victim and then leaving the area for a journalism piece just as the murders start to take off?

It was suspicious.

Itachi took control of the conversation next, asking for contact information which Sarutobi gave them with no resistance. He then asked some more standard questions. Did Sarutobi notice anything off with faculty or students? Were there any incidents that happened in the last few months that might have alerted them to someone with a grudge? Were there any hostile alumni or former students?

Sarutobi was open with them and gave them as much information as he could. Shisui really felt deep down that the president had nothing to do with the murders. He seemed just as torn up about it as those who had been particularly close to the victims.

He didn't know how long they had been speaking with the president. He was easy to talk to and extremely helpful, so the time seemed to just skate on by.

But then Sarutobi's desk phone rang and the man held his index finger up to answer it.

"Yes?" He paused. "…Already? That's fine then, just tell her to wait. I'll be right dow—of course she's already on her way up. Thank you."

Sarutobi hung up the phone and gave Shisui and Itachi a tired smile.

"I apologize, Agents. But I'm going to have to bring our meeting to an end," he said.

Itachi frowned and Shisui arched an eyebrow.

"Already?" He asked.

Sarutobi nodded. "I have another engagement."

Shisui and Itachi were used to being unwanted and shooed away by local police officers and hostile witnesses. But neither of them were used to being shooed away when they had a cooperating source who genuinely wanted to help.

Shisui wanted to argue with him, but he could hear the door open behind him before he got the chance.

Sarutobi gave a great sigh and stood up, gesturing for Shisui and Itachi to follow.

"You were supposed to wait downstairs," Sarutobi said.

"You said the meeting would be over at eleven. It's eleven-thirty," a familiar voice quipped.

Shisui blinked in surprise when he turned around and was greeted with Hana Sarutobi holding two paper cups of either coffee or tea in her hands.

She wore a pair of jeans that were loose on her lanky frame and ripped at the knees, a pair of white slip-on Vans, and a fitted white t-shirt that exposed a sliver of skin on her stomach. Her sandy brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with pieces framing her freckled face, and those hazel eyes stared directly at Shisui.

"Uh," she trailed off and her eyes flickered directly to Hiruzen.

"I apologize, Agents," he started. "This is my daughter, Hana. She's an alumna of the school as a matter of fact."

Well. That confirmed that. Hana was, in fact, Hiruzen's daughter, which meant that she was also Asuma Sarutobi's little sister, and a little too close to the Ryuchi Killings for Shisui's liking.

"We've met," Hana said with a light cough. She handed her father a cup and he raised an eyebrow.

"They're uh," she cleared her throat with another light cough. "Working with Raido and Aoba."

Hiruzen blinked in surprise and gave Shisui and Itachi an amused smile.

"Small world," he said.

"I'll say," Shisui muttered. He found that he couldn't quite look at Hana. First, she showed up at the scene of Gotta Iburi's murder with another journalist in tow, then he found out that she was friends with every member of his team, then it was she was the little sister of a possible suspect, and now this? Just casually showing up to greet her father when he happened to be in the middle of a meeting with two federal agents?

There were too many coincidences and Shisui didn't like that one bit.

"I don't think we've met yet," Itachi said. Shisui didn't look at Hana, but he did look at his cousin to see the tiny, barely even there, ghost of a smile on his face.

He stretched his hand out and shook Hana's. "I'm Itachi."

"Nice to meet you," she said. "Let me apologize on behalf of Aoba for any awful thing he's said while trying to be funny."

Itachi actually graced the Sarutobi girl with a small smirk.

"He saves his awful comments for Raido," he said.

Hana snorted, "of course he does."

"Raido's good people," Hiruzen said. "Back when Hana and that group were kids, he was the only one who tried to keep them out of trouble."

"Doesn't sound surprising in the slightest," Itachi said easily. And damnit, Shisui had never been so thankful for his cousin before, as he was so thrown off and so uncomfortable with the Hana thing that he didn't think he had the power to speak at all.

"Agents, if either of you need anything just give me a phone call. I'd like to see the killer caught as much as you," the president said.

"Will do. Thank you, President Sarutobi," Shisui said. His throat tightened uncomfortably as he avoided Hana's wary gaze.

They stepped out of the office and once in the safety of the elevator Shisui let out a heavy sigh and groaned.

"You didn't look too happy to see your journalist," Itachi noted casually.

"Because I wasn't."

* * *

Hana settled into one of the cushioned chairs that Itachi and Shisui had been in only moments ago as her father took his place on the other side of the desk.

"How do you actually know those two?" Her father asked. He took a long sip of his green tea while Hana fiddled with the lid of her coffee.

"I met Shisui at a bar one night," she said with a shrug.

"Stop," her father said as he held his hand up. "I don't want to hear anymore."

Hana rolled her eyes and stopped herself before she could say that she was an adult and not sixteen-years-old, sneaking around with some boy.

"All right, Dad," she said sarcastically.

"Did that guy stop out to fix your AC this morning?" He asked, eager to change the subject.

Hana shook her head. "No. I got a call from him saying he was double booked and would come back later this week."

Her father frowned. "That's unacceptable."

"It's not a big deal. That wasn't even why I called you yesterday," Hana said. She should have known better though. For all of her father's faults, he never wanted his kids to "suffer" as he put it.

It was one of the reasons why he picked out the nicest apartment complex he could find for her to move into after she got back from Ame. He paid for the first three months until she got back on her feet with a stable job and even went so far as to fill her fridge and pantry.

He really did mean well.

"What did the feds want to talk to you about?" Hana asked curiously before her father could rant about her broken air conditioner.

It had been sheer dumb (and terrible) luck that she stumbled in on her father meeting with _Shisui_ for fuck's sake. She had no idea that his "very important meeting" was a meeting with the feds, all right? Her father pretty much considered every meeting a "very important meeting".

And man oh man, Shisui did not look happy to see her.

Hana might have panicked a little bit on the inside. She didn't need Shisui to be suspicious of her because she turned up in one too many places connected to the case. And judging from the way he blatantly refused to look at her and the way he kinda shrank back, she had a feeling he thought the same thing.

"Just about the murders," her father said. The corners of his lips tugged downward. "I told them everything I knew that could maybe help because I want the killer to be caught, but I'm a little concerned that they now suspect Asuma."

Hana blinked.

"What?"

Her father exhaled and took another sip of his tea. "They wanted to know the faculty members that I personally knew who taught the students. Obviously, Asuma was one of them."

Hana's lips pursed into a thin line. "Fantastic."

"They might also suspect Jiraiya as well."

This time she actually scoffed. "Jiraiya? He's been out of the country for what? Six months?"

"Not quite, but close," her father said. "They didn't seem to like the fact that he taught the first murder victim and then left."

Before Hana could press her father for any more information on the case (she already had way more than she had before, being that the feds were starting to look at faculty members—so that was useful) her father interrupted her train of thought.

"He's back in town, you know. You should go see him if you're able."

Hana's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

The last time she saw her mentor was when she was given the award for her Ame piece. And while Jiraiya had been proud of her and her commitment to the story, he had not been happy with the state she was in when she returned to Konoha. He lectured her about how she'd gotten "too close" and how she needed to take better care of herself and pushed and pushed and _pushed_ until she finally let him talk her into going to therapy for a few weeks to work through what he called "trauma" from her time in both Suna and Ame.

She didn't think she needed therapy and thought it was stupid, but did it to appease Jiraiya and her father.

And for the most part, she stopped having nightmares after the sessions.

But the thought of seeing Jiraiya now? When all she did was work for _Byakugan Times_ and primarily write articles about celebrities?

The thought of seeing Jiraiya and having nothing to show him but wasted potential and a stupid job at a dying newspaper?

No. That simply wasn't an option.

"He's probably too busy," Hana said.

Her father narrowed his dark eyes in suspicion.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not an idiot by any means. He was the smartest man that Hana ever knew, and she wasn't just saying that because she was his daughter. He was quick-witted, sharper than people half his age, and had a stubborn will of fire. And damnit because he absolutely picked up on what was left unsaid.

"If you think Jiraiya is disappointed in you then—"

Her father didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because his phone began to ring. He frowned and stopped mid-sentence to answer and Hana frowned right back.

This happened every time they tried to get together.

Instead of listening to his conversation, she fished her phone out of her back pocket and texted her brother to see if he was anywhere on campus. She didn't really expect him to answer since he was probably in class, but when she felt like she was just another task for her father to check off his list, well Asuma was her go-to.

She then proceeded to mess around on her phone while her father talked, and after close to fifteen minutes passed, Hana huffed and stood up.

"I'll see you later," she said.

"Just one second," her father said quickly into his phone. He pressed a button, probably to mute himself, and his eyes flashed up to hers, big with remorse. "Hana, I'm sorry. This just came up."

She hated how disappointed she felt. You'd think after so many years she would have gotten used to her father brushing her off by now.

"Yeah. Something always comes up, doesn't it?" She muttered. She turned on her heel and headed out of his office.

Her father didn't even try to stop her.

* * *

"Where is she?" Yamato growled. He came right up to Genma's cubicle and towered over where he was seated, trying to mind his own business. And that proved infinitely harder with a scorned journalist glaring daggers into his face.

Genma decided to play dumb.

"Who?" He asked, popping a toothpick in his mouth and raising an eyebrow at Yamato.

"_Sarutobi!_" Yamato all but shouted. "She _stole_ my story!"

Genma could have laughed, but by some miracle refrained.

"To be fair, she made it perfectly clear that she was going to try and steal it no matter what," Genma said. "Hell, she probably would have bought it off you."

"Raido probably gave her inside information, didn't he?" Yamato accused right away. "Whenever either of you wants inside information he always gives it right up."

If Genma had a dollar for every time one of his competitors (be it at _Byakugan Times_ or at another paper) accused Raido of giving him inside information, then he would have his student loans paid off by now.

"Raido didn't do anything and you know that, Yamato. Take it up with Hana when she's back in the office," Genma deflected.

"No, I don't know that," Yamato growled. "You're the one who lives with him, after all. Must be nice having a little informant ready to give you information simply by batting your eyelashes at him."

Genma glared.

That was… Uncharacteristic for Yamato, no matter how pissed off he was.

Hana must have really gotten under his skin with the way she stole the story right out from under him.

"Say one more thing about him," Genma said lowly. "I dare you."

Yamato's eye twitched.

Genma knew he wasn't really mad at him, but rather Hana. And since Hana had yet to come into the office, Genma was the next best thing since they were best friends and since he was pretty much her editor at this point. He got why Yamato was so mad and didn't blame him.

But saying shit about Raido?

That was where Genma drew the line and everyone he was friends with knew that.

"Next time you see Sarutobi, tell her that I won't forget about this," he hissed.

He stalked away and Genma sighed, chewing on his toothpick.

Hana would do anything for a story.

Even if that meant walking over her own friends.

* * *

Sasuke liked to study in silence. He liked the peace and quiet. This was why he studied primarily in his school's STEM building. You know, where the other science majors studied. Or even engineering students. His fellow students who were like him and shut the hell and minded their own business as they studied.

Which was very unlike the idiots in over in the communications building. It had been Naruto's dumb idea for them to all meet up during one of their breaks, and the communications building had been where Naruto and Sakura just had class, so it made sense to meet over there. Besides, it was close enough to the STEM building that Sasuke didn't have to walk too far.

But for fuck's sake, Sasuke shouldn't have even gone. How was he supposed to study over Naruto and Sakura's bickering? Or the other loud-mouthed students?

The communications building was really more of a general studies building, so it held the 100-level math classes, communications classes, journalism classes, and even a good portion of the criminal justice classes.

So again. There were idiotic, loud-mouthed students, everywhere.

"And what the hell are you going to do when you graduate then? Be a cop? You should have joined the police academy then, Moron."

"I'm gonna go into the FBI, Sakura! Stop acting like you don't have a useless major. Journalism? Seriously? What a joke. The newspaper industry is just about dead."

Sasuke held back the urge to smirk or snicker. He would never say it out loud, but Naruto made a decent point.

"As if," Sakura drawled. "The FBI doesn't care about criminal justice majors. If anything they hire accounting and finance majors. I've read a bunch of articles about it."

"Shisui joined the FBI and he majored in criminal justice!" Naruto argued.

At the mention of his cousin, Sasuke's eyes flickered up just in time to see his two friends (if one could call them that) each looking at Sasuke.

He rolled his eyes. "What?"

"Tell Naruto that your cousin was a special circumstance," Sakura said. She then looked back at Naruto. "Shisui is an Uchiha, Moron. He's definitely way smarter than you."

"Shisui is an idiot," Sasuke cut in.

Naruto threw his hands in Sasuke's direction. "See! If an idiot like Shisui can become a fed then why can't an idiot like me?"

Once the words were out of his mouth his face flushed and Sasuke couldn't hold back the snicker this time. Hell, even Sakura giggled into her hand.

Naruto groaned and scratched the back of his head, but for a few blissful moments, it was quiet.

And holy hell, Sasuke couldn't be more grateful.

But all good things have to eventually come to an end, and this time it wasn't because Naruto and Sakura were bickering, but because Sakura gasped and turned around in her lounge chair, eyes wide looking in the direction of some offices.

"What's your issue, Sakura?" Naruto asked so Sasuke didn't have to.

"Don't you know who that is?" Sakura hissed back.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, going far enough to exchange a confused look with Naruto, and followed her line of vision to what Sasuke figured was a professor and a student.

At least it looked that way since the guy was in khaki pants and a tucked in polo while the girl was in ripped jeans and a t-shirt.

"Who? Asuma?" Naruto deadpanned. "Yeah, he teaches my fitness class. Why?"

"No, you idiot!" Sakura squealed. "The girl he's with! That's Hana Sarutobi!"

Naruto and Sasuke were both silent.

"Okay and…?" Naruto said.

Sakura groaned and pushed her pink hair back in frustration. "Hana Sarutobi is an absolute legend in the journalism school. A _legend!_"

"Okay?" Naruto said. Sasuke didn't say it, but he pretty much felt the same exact way.

Sakura groaned and looked back over her shoulder at Asuma and Hana. Sasuke's own eyes flitted over to them, noticing the similarities in facial structure, skin tone, and height. With the exception of freckles on the girl's face, they actually looked really alike.

Must be brother and sister.

"Sarutobi huh? They're probably the president's kids," Sasuke said. He looked away from the siblings and went back to his work, no longer caring about Sakura's exclamation.

"What'd she do that's such a legend, Sakura?" Naruto said.

"Um, what hasn't she done?" Sakura remarked. "Her senior project got a man off death row, she went to Suna during the political uprising and lived as a civilian for half a year despite all the violence, and then she went directly from Suna to Ame when they were having their civil war, lived with a group of orphans and ended up being a political prisoner because they didn't like having outsiders poking around in their business."

Sasuke didn't mean to, but he hummed under his breath. If he was a civilian over in Ame and a journalist from Konoha came over to get a story on their civil war? Well, he doubted he would like it very much.

"Oh wow," Naruto muttered.

"Like I said—a legend!" Sakura reiterated. "I gotta talk to her. Ino will be so jealous."

But before Sakura could even stand up, Hana and Asuma disappeared into the latter's office, and the pink haired girl immediately deflated.

"What does she do now?" Naruto asked, being a good friend and pretending to give a shit about Sakura's supposed idol.

"Oh, well right now she's…" Sakura paused. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't know." She frowned. "She's been back in Konoha for a while now. I always figured she'd be working on another story, but if she's in the city, then I have no idea what she could be working on. She usually covers bigger things in other countries."

Sasuke could care less.

So he checked the time on his watch to see how much longer he had to endure his idiot friends and opted for cutting their visit short.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked the instant he saw Sasuke gather his things together.

"I have to go to the lab to meet Orochimaru," Sasuke said.

"I thought that wasn't until later?" Naruto said back.

Sasuke shrugged. "Might as well get it over and done with."

"We'll see you tomorrow then?" Sakura asked. Her green eyes met with Sasuke's, big and pleading, almost desperate for him to stay.

Sasuke sighed, "yeah whatever. Meet you guys at the coffee shop after my biochemistry class."

He didn't wait to hear what else they would say, he just made his way out to the exit of the building.

The walk to the STEM building was a short one, just down the main path and off the first right. It was the biggest building on the campus, with big concrete pillars outside that said SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING across the top of them.

If not proud, then Sasuke was definitely more than a little smug at how esteemed his school's program was.

He technically didn't have to be at Orochimaru's lab until a little after four, but he wasn't doing anything and it got him away from Naruto and Sakura, so Sasuke didn't really give a shit that he was going to be early.

Orochimaru's lab was on the third floor of the STEM building, tucked away in the very back of a hallway that no one ever went down since there were no classrooms and only one tiny study area (if you could even call it that, it really just had a fold-out table with a chair pushed into it).

Sasuke frowned. He knew that most of the floors in the STEM building had personal labs for certain professors, but he never had to go into one before.

The door was shut and Sasuke knocked twice before he waited a long moment (too long in his opinion) for someone to greet him at the door.

He was greeted by a girl with pink hair. Only, where Sakura's was a pale pink, this girl's was darker, harsher even, and it fell down her back with a piece hanging directly between her dark eyes.

"Lab's closed," she pretty much barked in his face.

Sasuke could feel his upper lip curl in disgust.

"Orochimaru is expecting me," he deadpanned with the nastiest Uchiha glare he could manage.

"And you are?" She pressed.

He glared harder.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Her eyes flickered in recognition, and then she stepped back and opened the door further, letting Sasuke step into the stark white lab.

The lab wasn't as big as some of the other labs he worked in for his classes, but it was definitely nicer with even more state of the art equipment. There were expensive microscopes, tools, and all sorts of beakers and vials filled with different colored liquids.

Orochimaru was seated at one of the black lab tables, looking into a microscope and jotting notes down on a tablet. Seated at another lab table, one against the back wall that was by the counter of beakers and vials were three other research assistants.

Orochimaru looked away from the microscope and gave all of his attention to Sasuke, standing up from the table and abandoning whatever he was examining under the microscope.

"Ah, Sasuke. I'm so glad you could come today," Orochimaru greeted. He walked right over to Sasuke and gave him a once over before shaking his hand.

Sasuke grew up shaking hands with his father and federal agents. They all had strong handshakes that could leave you with a cramp. But Orochimaru? His handshake was weak and limp, almost as if he couldn't be bothered.

"Thank you for having me," Sasuke said with ease.

"Let me introduce you to the others," Orochimaru began. He rested a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and guided him over to the group at the other lab table.

"These are my other research assistants. They'll each be graduating with their masters this Spring, so you should find them helpful." Orochimaru nodded at the pink haired girl first. "This is Tayuya. She did a fascinating project on audio frequencies and the way they can be used in interrogations."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but didn't get a chance to ask what the hell that meant as Orochimaru was already moving on the next student of his, a young looking man with deeply tanned skin and dark hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"This is Kidomaru. He spent an entire year in the jungles of Oto studying arachnids and their venom."

Orochimaru moved onto another man, a large one with orange hair shaved in an odd pattern.

"Jirobo here likes to study the effect different drugs have on humans' physical strength and how far that can be pushed. And then Sakon," Orochimaru paused and nodded at the last member of the group with odd blue-grey hair. "…He's done some amazing research on conjoined twins and different genetic mutations."

"Sasuke here is still in undergrad and graduating early," Orochimaru said, now directing his attention to his other four research assistants. "He majors in organic chemistry and I thought he'd be a fantastic fit with the group. You should see some of the work he's done."

Sasuke pursed his lips together. He didn't think he had a leg to stand on with this group, as they were all graduate students who had experience with research by now.

But Sasuke? He didn't have any of that and he felt like an idiot who had no business being there.

"While all of that is very interesting, Professor," Sasuke began. "What exactly are you researching here? Everyone seems to have studied so many different things. What's the common denominator here?"

Orochimaru's face split into a wide grin and he tightened his grip, almost painfully so, on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke, I am so glad you asked."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Sorry for the late(ish) update! I was away for the holiday but it's still Sunday out where I am!**_

_**THANK YOU Honestlyxx, Kellie, MiyuKazu, and Guest for the reviews! Feedback is hella helpful, you have no idea.**_

_**Leave any feedback you might have a review! Thanks and see you next week!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_***See author's note below***_

* * *

If Hana _thought_ Shisui was off before, then she was one-thousand percent _certain_ he was off now.

Following her all too brief meeting with her father and a frustrated vent session to Asuma, Hana went to _Byakugan Times_ and texted Shisui to either go on damage control or assess the damage itself.

The outcome?

Well, her suggestive, flirty text got absolutely no response from the guy.

Hana looked at her phone for the millionth time in the last thirty minutes and groaned, running her hands across her face.

_Way to screw it up, Sarutobi. Way to screw it up._

She hadn't meant to. It had been a complete and total accident. How the hell was she supposed to know that Shisui would be meeting with her father?

Exactly. She wasn't.

"Well, look who decided to show their face," a voice drawled.

Looking up from her phone, Hana's eyes flickered upwards to see Yamato. His arms rested on the short walls of her cubicle and his dark eyes just glared directly into her very soul.

"I take it you're mad," she said.

"Why would I be mad?" Yamato asked. There was a dark glint in his eyes. "It's not like you went behind my back and stole a story from me."

Hana could have rolled her eyes.

"Oh wait. That's exactly what you did."

She sighed, "if you're waiting for an apology then you better not hold your breath."

"No," Yamato muttered. "I know better than to think you have a heart. We're all disposable to you after all."

If he wanted to say something else, he didn't. He just turned around and walked away, leaving Hana feeling just a little bit like a piece of shit.

Okay, maybe more than a little bit.

"You all right?" Genma asked. He leaned away from his desk and looked over from his cubicle to hers.

"I'm fine," she said as she clenched her jaw.

"If you say so," Genma said as he went back to typing away on his laptop.

Hana followed suit and turned her attention to her own computer. She distracted herself by going through her work email, and at the top of her inbox was an email from Mr. Hyuga.

'_Sarutobi,_

_I expect you to be there and for the details to be in your next article._

_-H. Hyuga'_

Hana could feel the corner of her lips pull down into a frown as she read further. Below Mr. Hyuga's original message was a forwarded one from Chief of Police, Danzo Shimura, saying that he would be holding a press conference tomorrow morning in regards to the Ryuchi Killings for all of the local papers covering the story.

She bit down on the back of her bottom lip and pushed herself away from her desk, walking over to Genma's cubicle.

"What?" He asked.

"The Chief of Police is holding a press conference tomorrow morning and Mr. Hyuga wants me to go," she said.

Genma crossed his arms and casually chewed on his toothpick.

"Yeah. It's your story. You should go."

"Right," she said. "But I can't. I need you to go for me."

Genma blinked dumbly. "Come again?"

She tightened her ponytail in frustration and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's a bit of a shit show but just trust me. I need you to go for me."

"Oh no. I need more of a reason than that. I edit your articles. Not write them for you."

"Christ," she hissed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to get her impending panic under control. "I fucked up, okay?"

Genma's eyebrows furrowed but he was silent, pushing her to continue without outright asking.

"You know my fed?"

"The one you're sleeping with to get information from? Yeah. Obviously," Genma remarked. His eyes twinkled and she glared.

"Okay well I went to see my dad today and his meeting went over and I may or may not have accidentally walked in on him during that meeting."

"I still don't follow," Genma deadpanned.

"He was meeting with _Shisui_. And his cousin who also happens to be his partner on the case. And he did not look happy to see me. Like at all. And I'm pretty sure he thinks that either I'm connected to the killer or that I'm just a journalist screwing him to get information."

Genma's expression was even as he stared at her and then in the most monotoned voice she had ever heard him use said, "but that's exactly what you are."

Unable to take it any longer, Hana whacked her friend on the arm.

"Ow!" He said as he held onto his arm in exaggeration. "What the hell, Woman?"

"That doesn't mean I want him to know that!"

Genma huffed and rubbed his temples. "So let me get this straight. You need me to go to the press conference to avoid running into the guy you're sleeping with because if he sees you there, your genius little plan of screwing his brains out for information falls apart, correct?"

"That's right," Hana said. "Come on, please. I'll do anything you want."

Genma rolled his eyes. "For fuck's sake, Sarutobi."

"I will literally get on my knees and beg," she deadpanned.

"I really don't think what you're doing is—"

"Is what?" She cut him off. "I'm not even doing anything other than sleeping with him. He won't tell me a goddamn thing."

"Fine! Whatever," Genma said, holding his hands up. "I'll go for you. But you've got to chill the fuck out. I get that you're stir crazy but you are next level and I can only take it for so long."

"I am not stir crazy! Why does everyone keep calling me stir crazy!" She shouted.

Hana was all too aware of the different looks her coworkers were giving her from around the office, but she only seethed through her teeth and looked up at the ceiling so she didn't lose her shit on them.

Genma held his hands up. "We're not having this discussion right now. I'll go to the press conference tomorrow morning and you'll chill the fuck out. Take a Xanax if you need."

Hana refrained from rolling her eyes or bickering further with him.

"Thank you," she said.

He winked at her and went back to work and she did the same.

She didn't know how long she had been typing away at her laptop, working on an article and answering emails, but it wasn't nearly long enough to distract her from constantly looking at her phone, checking for a text from Shisui that wasn't going to be there.

And a little before it was time to leave for the night, her phone finally buzzed.

Hana almost gave herself whiplash with how fast she grabbed it, bracing herself for a text from Shisui.

Only it wasn't.

It was from an unknown number.

'**Freckles. Meet us in Naka Park at 11pm tonight — where the Iburi kid was found'**

What…

Hana's first reaction was to call the unknown number, but it came back with a busy signal and she found herself glaring at the screen in confusion.

What the fuck was that?

She pursed her lips and stared at the text message as she tried to deduce who the actual hell it could have been from.

And then, all too fast, she figured it out.

Those people from before… The ones who called her Freckles. What were their names? There was the girl with the long black hair, the guy with the spiked hair, and then their shorter friend, the one with the bandages all over his face and body.

She felt a chill run up her spine, recounting the girl's words when she asked if they would "see her around" as more bodies turned up.

Hana rubbed the bottom of her chin.

It was a bad idea. A horrible idea. No one in their right mind would meet up with fanatics at a murder scene in the middle of the night.

But if Shisui wouldn't give Hana any information, then maybe the fanatics would.

And their side of the story? A group of people who followed the murders the way a cult followed their supposed prophet?

Well. She very much doubted anyone at _The Konoha Post_ would chase that side of the story, and novelty was a rare thing when every paper in the city was covering the same topic.

In an instant, Hana decided that she would tell Genma where they would be in case she turned up dead in the morning.

Bad idea? Obviously.

Unsafe? You bet.

But a new perspective? Hell yeah.

And Hana would do anything for that new perspective if it gave her story an edge.

* * *

Shisui was not wigging out, okay? He was perfectly fine and had everything under control.

Screw what Itachi said. He was not going to lose his cool. No sir. Not this time.

What did it matter that his nerves were just frayed to fucking pieces after a long day? What did it matter that he and Itachi were unable to interview any of the three professors that Hiruzen Sarutobi listed that day? What did it matter that the girl Shisui was casually sleeping with was either connected to the murders or just another pushy journalist? What the fuck did it matter that Danzo went against Fugaku's wishes and decided to hold a press conference first thing in the morning?

What the fuck did _any_ of it matter?

Again, not like Shisui was wigging out or anything.

He wasn't.

But all of those factors may or may not have left him a little bit on edge, which definitely was not ideal considering the fact that he was currently sitting at a high top table in the bar area of some nice restaurant waiting for Yumi of all people.

Why did he agree to this again?

Oh right. Because he was an absolute _idiot_.

Shisui shouldered his FBI jacket off and draped it over his chair, eyeing up the beer menu. He needed a drink. Better yet, he needed a shot of something strong and disgusting that would get him nice and buzzed before Yumi showed up.

Whiskey, vodka, tequila—he didn't give a shit which one. He just needed something to take the edge off.

He never got the chance though because suddenly a girl was walking right up to him and flinging her arms around his shoulders and embracing him.

He stiffened immediately but eventually awkwardly patted the girl on her back a few times.

He didn't have to see her face to recognize her. The brief flashes of jet black hair in his peripheral vision and the smell of floral soap told him all he needed to know.

"Yumi," Shisui muttered, clearing his throat when his voice betrayed him with an unmanly crack.

"It's so good to see you, Shisui," Yumi gushed.

She pulled back from him and put both of her hands on either side of his face and smiled so hard that it almost hurt to look at.

All at once his chest and stomach hurt as memories stained the back of his eyelids, and he hated himself for agreeing to this in the first place.

"You look exhausted," Yumi said, still cupping his face with both of her hands, her eyes lingering on the dark circles beneath his own. "I hope work isn't keeping you up too late."

Apparently done inspecting his face, Yumi released him and strutted over to the chair across from him and gracefully sat down.

She looked great. Which was not surprising in the slightest. Yumi always looked great. He wasn't sure he could remember a time seeing her without makeup or without carefully styled hair.

Sure, there were always the mornings after she had spent the night, but somehow she always managed to have color in her cheeks, red lips, and strategically messy hair first thing in the morning, as if she planned it.

Tonight was obviously no different.

She must have recently gotten off work, as she wore a fitted black dress (which drew way too much attention to her curves) that stopped just before her knees with a pair of flats. Then there was her black hair that reached past her chest that was silky and straight, and her pretty dark eyes that were outlined with mascara and eyeliner to draw more attention to them.

Fucking hell, she was gorgeous.

"How've you been?" She asked with that smile that made his heart beat out of his chest.

He fiddled with the beer menu, wishing like hell he had a drink to drown himself with.

"Fine," he answered, all too aware of the painful tension in his throat. "You?"

"Good!" That bright smile of hers was almost blinding. "I got a promotion at work so now I'm a senior manager and get my own intern."

"That's great," Shisui said as he averted his eyes. "Still working for the same company?"

Her eyes flickered downward for a short moment, but then just as quick as it happened, she was looking up again. "Mhm. I'm hoping to make partner by thirty."

Figures. Yumi worked at a wealth management company and always had crazy high aspirations.

He was spared from responding when the server came over. Shisui ordered a beer and Yumi got a vodka soda.

Again. Figures.

"How'd you hear I was back in Konoha?" Shisui blurted, already tired of the awkward small talk.

Yumi's cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink and his stomach fluttered in direct response.

"It was kind of a lucky guess. Once the papers started calling the Ryuchi Killings work of a serial killer I just figured you'd be here working the case," she played with a lock of long black hair and Shisui fiddled with the clasp of his watch.

"Ah," he said.

It was quiet until the drinks came out, which seemed to be exactly what they both needed.

Shisui must have downed half his beer in one swig while Yumi delicately sipped out of the little black straw in her drink.

"I'm really happy to see you, Shisui," she said. She reached across the table and rested one hand on top of his and he winced.

She caught it and pulled away with a deep frown on her pretty face.

"Shisui—"

"What are you doing, Yumi?" Shisui asked when he couldn't take it anymore. "Like seriously. What the hell are you doing? Just casually texting me to meet up out of the blue? What are you trying to get at?"

Her brows knit together and she frowned again, and _shit_ he hated himself for how much it hurt to see her wear that expression. Even after all this time, even after what she did to him…

"I thought it would be good for us to meet and just talk things out. Honestly. We didn't part on very good terms last time," she said with her dark eyes big and pleading.

"We didn't part on good terms because you were cheating on me with my coworker on a murder case," he deadpanned.

All those emotions he thought he'd long since buried were coming back up and his chest hurt and his throat felt tight enough to make him think he wouldn't be able to breathe for much longer.

Yumi closed her eyes and put her face in her hands.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Or did you think I would forget?"

"Shisui—"

"Whatever happened with Mukai anyway? Last I heard he left the bureau," Shisui said. He knew he was being an asshole but fuck if he cared. He hadn't been the unfaithful one here.

Yumi pulled her face out of her hands and pursed her lips into a tight, thin line. Then she said a very quiet, very calm, "he works with me now."

Shisui stared at her as he let the words sink in.

Then he laughed.

Like actually laughed like a psychopath and even had to put his fist to his mouth and clear his throat to force himself to stop before he started cackling like a maniac.

What were the fucking chances, eh?

"Oh that is rich," Shisui said through his dying laughs. "You work with the guy you were hooking up with behind my back. I'm assuming you two are together now because how else would he have gotten the job at your company? You've really outdone yourself, Yumi. Seriously. Consider me impressed."

He stood up and shouldered his jacket back on, shaking his head as he did.

Why the hell did he agree to this?

"Where are you going?" Yumi asked. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise.

Shisui didn't even bother finishing his beer. He just dug his keys out of his pocket and shrugged.

"Tell Mukai I said hello," he snapped.

He didn't look back. He didn't want to see the sad look that would be on Yumi's face. It just would have made him want to stay and Shisui did not want to do that.

Once he was outside in the humid summer air, he dug his phone out of his pocket and got into his car, slamming the door shut.

Letting out a frustrated groan, he raked his hands through the curls of his hair and banged the back of his head against his seat.

Once he got a few breaths in to just calm down, he looked at his phone and went straight to his message thread with a freckled-face journalist.

She texted him earlier, not long after he and Itachi left Hiruzen Sarutobi's office. It was a flirtatious text, asking what he was up to later that night.

When it came through Shisui ignored it. He still wasn't sure that he wanted to spend that much time with Hana, even if it was just sex. He still didn't like all the coincidences and he still didn't like that she was a journalist.

It was mainly the journalist part that made him nervous. He knew that she said she only wrote about celebrities, but what if she didn't? What if she was actually one of the reporters working on the Ryuchi Killings?

Then again, he supposed he would know after tomorrow. Danzo was going to hold a press conference for all the big news outlets so he could address the killings. If she was writing about it, then surely she would be there along with the others.

He frowned at his phone, debating whether or not he wanted to respond to her. He didn't think it would be fair if he did. Texting Hana for sex just because he was upset about Yumi wasn't right. He knew that. And yet…

His hand clenched around the phone until his knuckles turned white.

"Fuck it," he said under his breath, typing out a text and hitting send before he could think better of it.

* * *

Genma had not been amused when Hana told him where she was going to be that night. He called her stir crazy again and said she'd be better off drinking enough alcohol until she blacked out and woke up with a forty-eight hour hangover because anything was better than this.

And as she was wont to do when given unsolicited advice, Hana ignored him.

So that brought Hana to where she was right now.

Standing alone in Naka Park, one hour before midnight, with nothing but her cell phone and keys on her.

She had done stupider things for a story, but that didn't make her skin crawl any less.

Hana took nervous steps back and forth, the twigs crunching below her old Vans as she did. And despite the fact that it was almost midnight and she was shielded from most of the moon's light, it was still hot and humid out, and a sweat broke out across her forehead.

She couldn't remember the last time she was alone in the woods at night.

As a kid, she and the guys used to sneak out and get into trouble in the woods around Konoha. And in high school, one time they'd all once snuck out to get horribly drunk by one of the creeks on a Friday night.

She could remember that particular night with astounding clarity.

Genma stole his dad's car and picked Hana up after she told her parents she would be at Yugao's for a sleepover. Her parents definitely didn't believe her, but currently in the middle of a rough patch with Asuma, her father just told her to go and be safe.

Then they picked up Raido and met up with Aoba, Hayate, Yamato, and even Ebisu. Everyone drank the way inexperienced teens often drank (ie: without any idea of what their limits were and when to stop so they didn't throw their guts up) and all just hung out.

That was when Raido came clean to Hana with how he felt about a certain toothpick chewing brunette.

She remembered being a sixteen-year-old girl, drunk off of her ass, and looking at Raido with wide eyes as he blushed in the moonlight when Genma took his shirt off to go "swimming" in the creek.

She remembered swearing to Raido that she would protect his secret until the day she died and she remembered meaning it with a ferocity she had only ever felt when pursuing the stories she truly felt passionate about.

That was probably the last time Hana had been "alone" in the woods at night.

There were no forests in Suna or Ame, only vast deserts and abandoned skyscrapers.

"So she showed up after all. Zaku, you owe me a ten."

Hana turned her head in the direction of the voice to see the same group of people at the murder scene from before. Their names came rushing back all at once. The girl was Kin, the guy with spiked hair was Zaku, but the bandaged one's name escaped her. She wasn't sure they had ever said it.

"How did you get my number?" Hana asked right away.

"Like it's hard to find that kind of information," Kin replied. She placed a hand on her hip. "You're kind of a big deal in the journalism world."

Hana wanted to roll her eyes but decided that pissing these people off probably was not in her best interest. If they could find her name and phone number with little effort then it was probably best to behave.

"Right…" She muttered.

"You don't have to act so weird," Zaku said. "How many dead bodies did you see in Suna? Ame?"

More than she could count.

"It's not the same thing," Hana remarked.

"No?" This time it was the bandaged one talking to her. He tilted his head to the side, ever so slightly and she swallowed.

"No," she reiterated.

Kin and Zaku snickered.

"Public executions and kids bleeding out after stepping on bombs buried under concrete sound much more gruesome than some bodies turning up drained of blood," the bandaged one said again.

Her jaw clenched tight enough to grind her teeth to dust and Hana didn't dare blink, too terrified to see those images stained on the backs of her eyes to even try it.

"Is there a reason you wanted me to come here?" She asked.

"Easy there, Freckles. Don't get all hostile," Zaku said.

He approached her, hands in his pockets, arrogant smirk on his face and stood only an arm's length away from her.

"Kin studied forensics, my dad worked in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, and Dosu over there," he shrugged. "Well we don't really know why he's into this kind of shit, but that's beside the point. We think this shit is cool as hell and we like to go to the murder scenes and just look around."

"Still doesn't answer why you felt the need to reach out to me," Hana said, crossing her arms over chest.

"Because you're interested too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come," Zaku said, still wearing that arrogant smirk.

"And because you know the cops, so you probably know things that none of us do. You're probably even covering the story for _Byakugan Times_," Kin said. "We tried to check, but you have to pay for a subscription to see anything from them and we were already pretty certain that you were the one writing about the murders."

Hana bit back the comment on the tip of her tongue that said if they could find her phone number in an instant then they could probably find a way to pirate the articles from _Byakugan Times_, but for the sake of her safety, she refrained.

"Hate to break it to you, but I don't know anything other than what's been released to the public. That's why I came out tonight. Not because I'm interested, but because I want information just like everyone else," she said.

"Oh, I'm sure you know something. You can't be buddy-buddy with the cops and not have even a sliver of knowledge that the rest of us aren't privy to," the bandaged one, Dosu, muttered from where he stood beside Kin.

"Sucks for you because that's the case," Hana said. She pursed her lips and rubbed her forehead. "Well… I _might_ have some information about who the cops are looking into as possible suspects, but if you want to know who and why then you've got to give me something to work with."

Kin and Zaku each grinned at Hana, looking almost like starved hyenas.

"Freckles, it looks like this little friendship between us is going to prove itself mutually beneficial after all."

* * *

The rain started a little after midnight. At first, it was just a mild drizzle to hopefully break the humidity. But then, only fifteen minutes before one in the morning, it started coming down in sheets.

Hana, Kin, Zaku, and Dosu had been deep within Ryuchi Caves National Park. There were good portions of it that were blocked off to the public after hours, but "blocked off" simply meant that there was a little sign that said "NO ENTRY" with one of those orange blockades placed in front of the main footpath.

There were no cops patrolling the area despite the signs that said there were and Hana got to see first hand _all_ of the locations the bodies had been discovered.

That mixed with the things that her newfound acquaintances told her about the murders?

Her trip out to the park had been worth it.

Having to duck under trees and run back to her car when the rain got to be overwhelming had been worth it. Risking permanent water damaged to her cell phone that had only been shielded by her pockets had been worth it. Ruining a perfectly good pair of Vans as she stomped through mud and puddles had been worth it.

All of it had been more than worth it to get the information she now had, and Hana's fingers itched to go home and start typing out her next article.

She slid into her car and slammed the door shut from the torrential downpour and took quick, shallow breaths as if she had just swum to the surface of a pool after being underwater for too long.

Then remembering her phone and bracing herself for a glitchy white screen of death, she dug it out of her back pocket and tried to dry it off against the fabric of her car seats.

And oddly enough, aside from the touch screen not responding her fingerprint (her thumbs were still pretty wet) the phone seemed to be fine.

And once the screen came to life she was greeted with a barrage of missed text messages from Genma, Raido, even Asuma, and…

Shisui?

She had silenced her phone, even going far enough to turn off the vibrate, when she met with Kin, Zaku, and Dosu. She had been too worried that any sound at all would have made them suspicious of her.

But holy hell, she never expected to have so many missed text messages.

Hana decided to save Shisui's text for last on the off chance it was a message telling her to leave him alone and to delete his number and opted for reading Genma's texts first.

'**Are you alive?'**

'**Please tell me ur alive'**

'**I swear to god if ur dead I will get a ouija board and demand to know what happened'**

'**Say goodbye to ur peaceful afterlife asshole'**

'**Check ur fuckin phone Sarutobi'**

'**I told Raido and I am not sorry'**

She pushed her sopping wet hair back out of her face and wiped her thumbs on the driver's seat as she typed out a response that told him she was okay and about to head home.

Then there were the texts from Raido.

They were calmer than Genma's and didn't have any jokes about her not-so-peaceful afterlife, but they were definitely not amused.

'**I'm sure you're fine. But can you just text Genma so he can relax?**

'**Hana, this isn't funny.'**

'**You've got until 3am to text me back. If you don't I'm putting in a missing persons report'**

She had plenty of time before Raido's deadline, but to save some face she also texted him saying that she was fine, despite knowing that Genma was probably sitting right next to the guy.

Hell, even Asuma texted her. Though, that was only related to making sure she was okay after talking to their dad earlier. The timing was just purely coincidental.

Then finally, there was the text from Shisui, and her heart pounded loudly in her ears. Hana rubbed her bottom lip with the back of her thumb, debating on whether or not she even wanted to open it.

Surely, it couldn't be good. Surely, it was just going to be a text telling her to stay away from him.

Only, it wasn't?

'**Sorry. Been busy. Wanna come over?'**

He had texted her a little before she got to Naka Park, and Hana had no idea how she missed it.

She had spent half the day checking over and over again for a response from the guy.

Not one to pass up an opportunity (especially if it meant putting herself on better terms with the guy) she replied.

'**Sorry I missed this! I know it's late but I can still stop by if you want?'**

It was a shot in the dark. There was no way he was going to reply. He was probably asleep like a normal person. Besides, Hana was sopping wet and really needed to get home to change into dry clothes. Plus, she also needed to work on her article.

But then her phone lit up with another text.

She glanced at it and arched one eyebrow above the other.

Guess her dry clothes would have to wait.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Happy Saturday! This chapter came early(:**_

_**THANK YOU MiyuKazu, Kellie, and Honestlyxx for your reviews on the last chapter! It is MUCH appreciated!(:**_

_**Leave your feedback with a review! Super helpful to see what y'all think. See you next Sunday!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Here's a long ass (but necessary) chapter. Keep the change ya filthy animal.**_

* * *

When Hana showed up at Shisui's apartment, she was wet. Not in the good way either. Like she was actually soaking wet, like she just decided to go for a swim in the middle of the night in all of her clothes.

"What in the hell," he muttered as his eyes swept over her.

She gave him a sheepish grin and shrugged.

"It's raining," she said.

Shisui sighed and chuckled under his breath. He didn't think she would text him back after he so blatantly ignored her all day, so one could imagine his surprise when she texted him right around one o'clock in the morning.

She looked nothing like Yumi. Yumi, with her perfectly manicured nails, silky straight hair, and tight fitted dress to show off her curves. Hana might as well been from a different dimension if he compared the two. Hana with her spattering of freckles across her face, sandy brown hair that was dripping water droplets onto her shoulders, and a white t-shirt and jeans that clung to her body, heavy with rainwater.

"I didn't know it was that bad. Why come over then?" Shisui asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

Hana huffed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You gonna let me in or are you going to stand there and interrogate me, Mr. FBI Agent? Because I would love nothing more than to get out of these wet clothes."

He couldn't help it when he smirked and rubbed his chin.

"You don't waste any time, huh?" He said.

Hana rolled her eyes. "You're the one who told me to come over at one in the morning."

"And you're the one who texted back at one in the morning," he said, but he held the door further open and ushered her in.

He still wasn't totally feeling like himself after meeting with Yumi. Itachi had waited up for him in the living room, pouring over case files as he did. And Shisui had considered confiding in his cousin, but his throat had been too tight and he was just a little too irritable.

So instead, he opted for going into his room, shutting the door and looking online to read about the University of Konoha's professors since he couldn't sleep.

It had been sheer, dumb luck that Hana texted him right before he decided to go to sleep. And yeah, maybe reaching out to Hana when he was upset about Yumi and just looking for a distraction was messed up, but he honestly didn't care. Especially since it was just sex.

And especially since he was still suspicious of her.

"Follow me," Shisui said under his breath. He didn't want to wake Itachi up with his 1am booty call and tried to take light footsteps as he guided Hana to his bedroom.

They got into his room and he quietly closed the door behind them.

"I don't suppose you have a towel I could use?" Hana asked, still fiddling with the wet locks of her hair.

He took a second to give her a once over now that she was in better light. He could see her bra through the white t-shirt plastered to her torso and her jeans looked like they were almost glued to her long legs.

"Getting out of those clothes might help," he said easily. He went over to his closet and reached for the top shelf for where he had a spare towel, one that was probably a little too small for him to use.

"And you say I'm the one who doesn't waste any time," Hana quipped from behind him.

He chuckled under his breath and tossed the towel over to her.

"You know," she started. "I wasn't expecting to hear back from you."

Shisui couldn't help it when he arched an eyebrow above the other. He walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it, watching the way Hana ran the towel over her face and through her hair.

"Why's that?" He asked. His voice sounded hoarse, probably from the tightness that was in his throat during and after drinks with Yumi.

"Well, you looked like you saw a ghost when I stumbled in on your meeting with my father and then you looked kinda pissed." She stripped off her white t-shirt and began to towel dry the rest of her torso. "Oh, and then you ignored my text for the rest of the day."

He blinked, a little impressed with her level of awareness.

"And here I thought this was just a booty call," he deflected with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Hana gave him an exasperated sigh.

"So what? You think I'm the killer or something?" She retorted.

Shisui leaned back onto the bed, resting on one propped up elbow as he watched her unzip her jeans and peel them off.

"Nah," Shisui admitted. "You're too skinny to kill a guy like Gotta Iburi."

She towel-dried her legs, not at all bothered by the fact she was only in a bra and underwear.

"So what gives?" She asked after she had finished drying herself off. "I've never been ghosted by a fuck-buddy before."

"Is that what we are?" He asked with a grin.

"Why else would I drive over here at one in the morning?" Despite the implied sarcasm of her words, her voice was remarkably light and she had this pretty little amused smirk on her face as she eyed him down.

It immediately made him feel lighter and he couldn't have been more thankful. He needed that.

"Where should I put my wet clothes and this towel?" She asked with a little twinkle in her eye.

He let his eyes lazily rake across her exposed body (he noticed that her arms, tops of her shoulders, and chest had freckles too), not even looking her in the eyes before saying, "you can throw the clothes over the closet door and the towel on the dresser."

She complied and turned around, and that's when Shisui saw it.

To the left of her spine and just above her lower back, were two oval-shaped scars that warped the skin there, twisting it into two muddled messes.

He frowned and sat straighter up, narrowing his eyes.

They weren't scars from a bullet, Shisui knew that much. But rather, if his Bureau experience was worth anything, they were scars from a knife.

Scars from being stabbed…

"Whoa, how did I miss that?" He muttered.

"Miss what?" Hana asked after she draped the towel on the dresser and walked over to the bed.

"Your back," he said. "Are those from being _stabbed_?"

Hana's hazel eyes widened for a fraction of a second and then she immediately tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as her face turned a pretty shade of pink.

"O-oh. Well… I mean… Well yeah, but—"

"…You were stabbed." He deadpanned.

"It was a long time ago," she said. Her voice shot up an octave and her nervous energy crackled the air between them.

"_Why_?" He pressed.

"I really don't think that's important. It was just a thing that happened where I was at the time." Her eyes widened when she heard her own words and immediately waved her hands at him. "Wait, that sounds awful. People didn't randomly get stabbed where I was—well okay, sometimes they did, but that's not why I was! I swear."

"Hana Sarutobi, you are just full of secrets, aren't you?" He said, deciding that he had heard enough. He pulled her into his lap and almost exhaled in relief when he noticed she smelled like rainwater and the outdoors. He was eternally grateful, as he just wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with it if she wore a similar perfume to Yumi.

Her freckled cheeks reddened and she carefully draped her arms around his neck when his hands settled on her hips.

Shisui wasn't sure that he had ever seen the girl flustered before. She always seemed confident and almost cocky. Granted, he didn't spend a ton of time with the journalist, but when he did and when they weren't otherwise preoccupied, she never struck him as someone easily flustered or embarrassed.

By all accounts, she seemed pretty unapologetic in her approach to well… Everything.

"Says the fed," she remarked.

"You love to bring that up," he mused. "Is sleeping with an FBI agent some sort of kink for you?"

She laughed and it made him smile without even realizing it.

"Oh of course. That's why I keep coming back. That and your unforgettable mouth."

This time he was the one who laughed. Then he placed a hand on the nape of her neck and pulled her closer.

"C'mere."

* * *

_Shisui was cold._

_He couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't hear._

_It was so dark._

_He flailed his limbs, but his movements were slow as if he were moving through honey. It didn't matter how hard he swung his arms or kicked his legs. He could scarcely move._

_It was that terrible black velvet surrounding him again. So cold, so thick, so dark._

_He still couldn't breathe. His chest burned. It was all too much._

_Too fucking much._

_He was going to die._

As was becoming routine, Shisui thrashed awake, kicking his legs and sitting up to desperately gulp in a breath of sweet oxygen.

He was in his room and his bed, early morning light seeping in between the blinds of his window.

No black velvet anywhere in sight.

"Is this normal for you?" Hana's voice, thick with sleep, came from beside him. "Because this whole _violently-jolting-awake_ thing you've got going on is not normal for most people."

Shisui still panted, taking deep breaths of glorious air and ran a hand over his face. Once he got his breathing under control, he risked a look over his left shoulder to see Hana looking up at him with bloodshot eyes, still heavy with sleep.

"Ah, sorry," he said. He rubbed the back of his head and brought his knees up to rest his elbows on.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

Shisui leaned over and grabbed his watch from the nightstand. He looked at the familiar white dial, reading the hands on it.

"A little after six," he answered.

"Guess that's my cue," she said with a yawn.

"You don't have to leave right away," he said. She sat up in the bed, the sheet falling away from her exposed body, and rubbed her eyes again.

"No, I really do."

He hated the fact that he was immediately suspicious. Did she have to leave right away so she could be at the station in time for Danzo's press conference? Or was there some other reason?

"Right," Shisui murmured, feeling a tiny shred of disappointment for some unknown reason. "I'll walk you out."

Unlike the very first time he slept with her, Hana didn't argue against him walking her out. She just started to get her things together and slip into her clothes.

"Ugh," she muttered, jumping to get into her jeans. "Still damp."

Shisui slipped on a pair of basketball shorts and chuckled, "sorry about that. If I had a dryer in my apartment I would have thrown your clothes in there."

She waved her hand and yawned. "No worries. Lucky for me, I have one at home."

She was so casual. So unbothered by the fact her clothes were still wet with rain and so nonchalant about leaving first thing in the morning after spending the night with him.

Yumi never would have acted like that. She would have gotten up early to make herself look a certain way before he woke up. She would have kissed him and lured him back into bed if he tried to get up before she wanted him to.

But if he was being honest with himself, Yumi never would have come over so late just for a hookup.

Ever.

Running her fingers through her hair, as Shisui was learning was both a nervous tick and a way to keep her hands busy, Hana flashed him a disarming smile that caught him way too off guard.

"Don't worry. I didn't forget my panties this time," she said.

Shisui laughed and rested his hand on her lower back as he walked her out to the living room where the front door was.

"You're something else," he said with a smirk.

"I'm just happy I got you to smile," Hana quipped. "You seemed a little off."

Was he so obvious that a girl who barely knew anything about him was able to recognize how bothered he was?

How pathetic was that?

"I'm all right," he said, withdrawing his hand from her back.

They stepped into the living room and Hana's footsteps stuttered and Shisui almost walked directly into her.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Uh—"

He stood beside her and narrowed his eyes to see what made her stop, and just about jumped out of his skin when he saw a figure just sitting on the couch—a figure that wasn't Itachi.

"_Shit_, Sasuke!" Shisui gasped. "The hell are you doing here so early?"

Sasuke, who had been seated the center of the couch with a mug of tea as he watched the news on their tiny television, gave Shisui a very bored look before his dark Uchiha eyes glided over to Hana and flickered for a fraction of a second before returning to the television.

"I went out for a run and figured I'd stop by to see Itachi on my way back," he said. "I owe him gas money."

Shisui sighed and shook his head, placing his hand on Hana's back again as they walked to the front door. They both slipped out and Shisui closed the door for some privacy.

"Sorry about that," he started. "That was my cousin and he never really outgrew his angsty emo phase."

Hana almost looked like she wanted to laugh as she tried to suppress a smile.

"Must be an Uchiha thing," she teased.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You trying to say something, Sarutobi?"

She jutted her chin out, ever so slightly. "Oh no. You just wear a lot of black, have inky black hair, pretty black eyes…"

A sound came out of him that might have been a laugh or a scoff, he wasn't quite sure. But what he was sure of was that he was definitely smiling hard enough for his dimples to come out.

"I can't help any of that," he argued. "I was born with dark hair and eyes. And I don't always wear black."

"No," she hummed. "I guess not _all_ the time."

Shisui really tried, okay? He really tried to not smirk and lean a little closer to her.

It just… Damn. It felt good to relax and actually smile.

Hana was right. He had been off. He'd been off ever since his initial phone call with Yumi, and it had only gotten worse after seeing her last night.

He just liked that Hana could make him smile.

What he didn't like was remembering that there was a pretty strong possibility that she was either somehow connected to the murders, or just another pushy journalist trying to weasel her way into information for a story.

And that almost wiped the smile right from his face, had it not been for her teasing him again.

"I'm just saying that this whole tall-dark-and-handsome thing you've got going on probably started during your emo years," she said.

He chuckled under his breath. "What makes you think I even had emo years?"

"Just a hunch," she said without hesitation. She started towards the stairs that led to the main exit of the building and winked at him. "Call me."

He could feel the corner of his lips pull upward and before he could start grinning like an idiot, he headed back inside to see Sasuke watching him with expectant eyes.

"Next time make a little noise so I know you're here, Punk." Shisui mussed Sasuke's hair as he walked by to go directly to the kitchen for some coffee. "You're just as bad as your brother."

"Shouldn't you have chlamydia by now?" Sasuke asked dryly, voice carrying into the kitchen. "Or gonorrhea?"

Shisui rolled his eyes with a sigh and popped his head back in the living room that was directly off of the kitchen.

"Condoms, Sasuke," he said. "They're a thing."

He went back to making his instant coffee, heating the water and mixing in his coffee. He then walked back into the living and sat down on the other end of the sofa by Sasuke.

"Or are you still saving your _purity_ for the right one?" Shisui pressed, looking over at his cousin to give him a shit-eating grin.

Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms, but Shisui didn't miss the way his cheeks flushed and how he angled his head slightly away from him.

"You're an idiot," Sasuke muttered.

"Love you too," Shisui said, grinning hard enough to make his cheeks hurt.

"Since when do you sleep with reporters? I thought my father always warned you about staying away from the press," Sasuke said before taking a sip of his tea.

Shisui narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know that? You secretly sleeping with my girl, Sasuke?"

Sasuke snorted in what could only be disgust.

"You have god awful taste. I would never go for your sloppy seconds."

Shisui could have teased him about how Sasuke wouldn't want Shisui's "sloppy seconds" for an entirely different reason than the one he was implying but refrained for sake of his little cousin's sanity.

No point in crossing that bridge so early in the morning.

"Well you must think Hana's good taste if you know who she is," he said, taking a sip of coffee. He didn't miss the heavy sigh Sasuke gave him, almost as if saying he was completely done with Shisui's "perpetual stupidity" as he liked to call it.

"We saw her on campus the other day and Sakura wouldn't shut the hell up about her. Apparently, she's some legend in the journalism school—if that's even a thing."

"Oh yeah?"

"Shouldn't you know that if you're sleeping with her?" Sasuke retorted.

Shisui snickered into his coffee and said an easy, "we don't really talk, Sasuke. Believe it or not, it's kinda difficult to have deep meaningful conversations in the middle of sex."

"You're disgusting," Sasuke said. "What women see in you I'll never know."

Shisui grinned and said, "it's the smile. You should try it sometime."

Sasuke didn't dignify that with a response.

He didn't have to either since Itachi came to his rescue, coming out of his bedroom with his hair damp from a shower in black slacks and a white undershirt.

"Sasuke," Itachi said in surprise. His dark eyes flickered between his younger brother and Shisui a few times in confusion.

"He stopped by after his run today. Says he owes you money," Shisui explained. He stood up and yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

"You done in the bathroom? I need to shower," Shisui said to Itachi. Itachi just nodded and sat beside Sasuke.

"I'm sure you do," Sasuke muttered.

Shisui smirked and flipped his little cousin the middle finger in response.

"I'm telling you, Sasuke. It's the smile."

* * *

Genma crossed his arms with a sigh. Like the good friend he was, he went to the downtown police station to attend Chief Shimura's press conference, and he already was regretting it.

Standing inside the station with a dozen other journalists reminded Genma why he begged and begged and _begged_ Mr. Hyuga to let him begin his transition to editor a few months ago. He knew that writers like Hana and Yamato thrived off this sort of environment. It was that fiercely competitive nature ingrained into them.

And while Genma was competitive, he was nowhere near their level. Instead, he much preferred to sit back and go over Hana's pieces.

"Genma?"

He looked up from the ground to see Raido coming over to him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion with dark circles beneath his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Here for the press conference," he answered. Genma uncrossed his arms and plunged his hands into his pockets, noticing the wrinkles in Raido's uniform and the way his hair seemed messier than usual.

"You are?"

"Yeah," Genma said. "Did you sleep here last night? I didn't hear you come home."

Raido cleared his throat and stuffed own his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"It's been crazy here," he said.

"I'm sure," Genma muttered.

He didn't like it when Raido worked ridiculous hours. He honestly didn't even like the fact that Raido was a cop. Those first years that he was in the force had been rough. It was back when he still worked the nightshift in the inner city, and Genma remembered how cold his eyes had been during that time, seeing dead bodies from gang violence and other horrible crimes.

And now that he was working on a serial killer case?

Well… Genma wasn't too fond of that either.

"Talk to Hana at all?" Raido asked.

Genma nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was freaking out last night."

Raido smirked and laughed under his breath. "It's okay. It broke my night up, but I wouldn't worry too much about her. She's done dumber shit for a story and came out unscathed for the most part."

Genma laughed in spite of himself. "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one."

Raido smiled and ducked his head down, rubbing the back of his neck as he did.

"I'll be home tonight. I'd like to sleep in my bed again," Raido said, still not meeting Genma's eyes.

Genma could feel the corner of his lips begin to quirk upward and said an easy, "I'll cook us dinner then."

It would have been impossible to miss Raido's blush. Absolutely impossible. And regardless of how endearing Genma thought it was (because seriously, Raido got flustered so easily that making his friend blush like that was one of his favorite pastimes), he knew better than to say anything to Raido about it.

He may have liked flustering his friend, but he didn't want to actually embarrass him.

Before Raido could say anything, he was interrupted by Agent Shisui Uchiha very casually walking over to them.

"Hey," Shisui said.

Genma kept his hands in his pockets and nodded as he surveyed the guy and wondered what the hell wanted from him. He looked normal enough, though Genma supposed he didn't know what normal looked like for Shisui. His hair was clean, his black eyes were attentive and alert, and his clothes were pressed and shoes were clean.

He wasn't even wearing his FBI jacket, but instead wore some slacks and a fitted polo that Genma wished he could pull off. That would have been a hell of a lot easier wearing to work than his stupid button-down and tie.

He didn't _look_ suspicious or anything.

And then, just when Genma was done surveying him, his eyes caught sight of a mark on Shisui's neck. It was at the base of his collar, the very top of a light purple bruise, and Genma fought off the urge to snicker.

Looks like Hana made a pit stop on her way home last night.

"Agent," Genma greeted.

"Genma, right?" Shisui asked.

Genma nodded and was all too aware of the way Raido stood a little closer to him in the growing crowd of hungry journalists.

"Here for the press conference?" Shisui asked.

His eyes locked onto Genma's with an astounding level of steadiness, and Genma honestly felt a little skittish under the look.

Then again, the guy did spend his career catching and interrogating serial killers. Of course he had a steadiness in his eyes that other people could only dream of.

"Yes sir," Genma said, biting down on the edge of his toothpick, just enough to chip it.

Genma wasn't stupid. Shisui wanted to know where Hana was without outright asking him.

Maybe Hana wasn't exaggerating when she said Shisui was getting suspicious of her.

"Mm," Shisui hummed. "Are you covering the case?"

Genma tried his best to keep up with Shisui's unnerving stare. It wasn't hostile per se, but it wasn't very friendly either, and Genma didn't like the fact that Shisui was paying attention to all of his facial twitches and nervous gestures.

"Nah," Genma said with a shrug. "That'd be a conflict of interest since Raido here is working on it."

For extra effect, Genma slung an arm around Raido's neck the way he had since they were teenagers when someone wanted to bust on him about something.

"Yeah, it would be," Shisui murmured.

Genma smirked at how much Raido's face flushed and then released him.

"I'm just here at my boss's request. Gonna take a recording, get some notes, and then head back to the office," Genma said. While he really didn't like lying, this was a special circumstance. He didn't necessarily agree with Hana's approach, but they were good enough friends that he didn't think twice about it. Besides, she had done enough sketchy shit on his behalf that it was just returning a favor.

At least that's how he saw it.

"Did you need something from me?" Genma asked when Shisui's stare wouldn't let up.

As if he flipped a switch, Shisui gave him an easy side smirk and shook his head.

"No," he said. "Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a conflict of interest or anything."

"No, sir."

"Out of curiosity," Shisui started, one hand going to rub the back of his neck. A nervous gesture, Genma noticed. "What paper are you with? And if you're not covering the story, who is?"

Shisui already knew the answer. He had seen Genma with Hana that first day at Naka Park where the Iburi kid was found. He had to have known what paper they worked for. He was just trying to get Genma to confirm his suspicions.

Which he would not be doing.

Genma caught Raido crossing his arms in his peripheral vision, and he bit down a little too hard on his toothpick, effectively snapping it.

"_Byakugan Times_," Genma answered. "And my boss assigned the story to my buddy Yamato. He used to work for another paper and usually covered crime rates and that sort of thing. This is sort of up his alley."

It wasn't a lie.

Mr. Hyuga had assigned the story to Yamato and Yamato had once worked for another paper where he covered ongoing crimes. It was probably the reason why Mr. Hyuga initially gave the story to him over someone like Hana.

He just had more experience (even if it wasn't in serial killers) in that area.

"And where's this Yamato now?" Shisui pressed.

"The office," Genma answered. "He's stuck between stories right now and has a deadline to make."

If Genma wanted, he could be a real ass. He could call Shisui out on his bullshit or ask why he was pretty much being interrogated, but pissing off an FBI agent wasn't something he wanted to do.

He saw why Hana had been paranoid. Although… Just from this brief encounter with Shisui, Genma was fairly certain that there was no way in hell he was giving any information to Hana about the murders — pillow talk or not.

Shisui nodded, seemingly placated with Genma's answers.

"All right then," Shisui said. He plunged his hands into his pockets and nodded at Raido. "Chief wants to speak with us before he gives his statement."

Raido straightened up and nodded back. Then Shisui gave Genma an easy, almost friendly smile.

"Nice talking to you, Genma."

Genma took his broken toothpick out of his mouth and replaced it with a new one from his pocket.

"Likewise."

"What the hell was that?" Raido asked as soon as Shisui was out of earshot.

"Better if you don't know," Genma said. He then slapped Raido on the back with a smirk. "I'll see you tonight."

Raido's face flushed again.

"See you tonight."

* * *

Jiraiya knew that this probably was not the best way to go about this. He knew that it was likely going to end in either an argument, lecture, or both. However, he was pretty convinced that it was the only way to get in touch with his little prodigy ever again.

He hadn't been back in Konoha for long, just long enough to talk with his old friend Hiruzen and be told that the FBI was likely going to contact him.

Which was a day late and a dollar short, because they already tried calling him twice.

The first time he missed the call because he had been in the subway. The second time was because he was nursing a horrible hangover.

He needed to call them back before they got even more suspicious but instead opted for dropping by to check on his former student and surrogate niece.

Getting to the front door of the apartment complex, Jiraiya buzzed apartment 302 and waited to either be buzzed in or for a voice to come through the little speaker on the wall.

"_Who is it_?" A muffled voice, sounding almost like a drive-through, came from the speaker.

Jiraiya held down the red button and said an easy, "the person who taught you everything you know. Now open up, Kid. It's hotter than hell outside."

"…_Jiraiya_?"

He smiled even though he knew she couldn't see it.

"The one and only."

A moment went by and then there was the sound of her buzzing him in and Jiraiya opened the front door and went inside.

The complex itself was on the lavish side, the type of lavish that demanded high ceilings, oversized windows, and elevator music echoing through the halls.

He made his way up to the third floor and looked for 302, which happened to be at the end of the hallway, and knocked on the white door.

It opened slowly, carefully. And then when a pair of hazel eyes saw him through the crack in the door, it swung open to show a tall, lanky thing with freckles and messy hair.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hana asked. She smiled though and hugged Jiraiya around the shoulders.

He smiled and patted her on the back, then said an easy, "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

"Mhm," Hana hummed under her breath.

She pulled back and ushered him inside with a smile that was purely her father's through and through.

Hana grew up tall and right with a good head on her shoulders. And compared to the last few times he saw her, picking her up from the airport and going to her awards ceremony, she looked infinitely better.

He could still see her walking off that plane, all skin and bones with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes. She smiled at their group and hugged them. She had looked both relieved and a little disappointed to be back in Konoha.

Jiraiya had lectured her during the car ride home. She'd gotten too close for too long and that was why those awful things happened. That was why she ended up in an Ame prison for over two months.

She had just shrugged and said there was no cost too great to tell the stories she had heard during her time there.

But now? Now she looked much better.

Hana was always skinny, lanky even, but at least he couldn't see the bones in her arms now, and he was beyond grateful for that.

"Your dad said you were probably avoiding me," he said. Jiraiya's eyes flickered around the apartment, suddenly all too aware of the stifling heat. "Why is it a million degrees in here?"

She huffed, "AC broke and the guy never came out to fix it."

"You should tell your dad," Jiraiya said.

He didn't have to look at Hana to know that she was probably glaring at him for the suggestion.

"Don't look at me like that," Jiraiya said. She turned on her heel and he followed her further into the apartment, stopping in the living room and sitting on the couch.

"Want something to drink?" She asked.

He shook his head and continued to take in the apartment. Hiruzen really took out all the stops when he found this place. If you looked past Hana's clutter of papers and photos and who knows what else, it was a _nice_ apartment.

The carpet was new, the paint was new, from what he could tell, all of the appliances were new. Hell, she even had a sliding glass door that led to her own little balcony.

It was too nice to afford on a journalist's salary.

"My dad helps with the rent," Hana said as if she could read his mind. "Said he'll do whatever he can if it keeps me in the country and at _Byakugan Times_."

"Can't say I disagree."

She snorted, "seriously?"

"What's wrong with holding down a steady job at a paper? Hyuga seems to give you a lot of freedom and now you have a steady source of income. Don't tell me you miss being a freelance writer."

She scratched the back of her head and made her sandy brown hair even messier than normal.

"I just miss the freedom of it," she mumbled.

Jiraiya understood. He remembered feeling the same way when he started teaching at the university, but he was lucky enough that Hiruzen gave him plenty of freedom to pursue whatever he wanted, just as long as he still came to class and had office hours.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"Well can't say I'm thrilled to be writing about celebrities and award shows."

Jiraiya also understood that.

"You do what you gotta do. There's no shame in that," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "You sound like my father."

"Your father's a smart man," Jiraiya remarked with a smirk that she begrudgingly returned.

"…Did you hear about what's going on over in Iwa? Supposedly their elections over the last two decades have been rigged and the people are planning to r—"

"Stop," Jiraiya said with a frown. "You've spent enough time away from home and I don't think your father could handle you leaving again."

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips together, pouting without even realizing it. She used to do the same thing as a child but it never worked on Hiruzen or Biwako. Hell, it never even worked on Jiraiya back when he used to babysit her.

The only person her pouting ever worked on was her godfather, and he had been dead for most of Hana's life.

"Pout all you want, Kid. It ain't gonna work," Jiraiya said.

"I'm not pouting."

"You're pouting."

She huffed and leaned against the arm of the sofa, crossing her arms as she did.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but seriously. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here at the request of your father," Jiraiya told her. "He's been worried about you. Says you've been pretty stir crazy."

Her eye twitched.

"I am _not_ stir crazy."

Oh, she definitely was. No question about that.

"Oh of course not," Jiraiya started, purposely pouring as much sarcasm as possible into his words. "And why would you be? You went from getting people off death row to political uprisings to civil wars and now you're covering celebrity affairs. Can't imagine why you'd ever be stir crazy."

Her eye twitched again and the tension was visible in her shoulders.

"I'm not just covering celebrity gossip anymore," she muttered.

"You're not?"

"No. I'm covering the Ryuchi Killings."

He stared at her, letting the words linger in the air between them.

"What?" He blurted.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She demanded. "It's great!"

Jiraiya shook his head. No, it was not great. Not even in the slightest bit and she didn't seem to see that.

"Hana, you get too close to your stories. You always have," he explained, trying to hold eye contact with her for more than a few seconds.

She scoffed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Really, Jiraiya? A lecture?"

"Yes!" He retorted. "You got too close to the Zabuza story—"

"And got an innocent man off death row because of it."

"You don't know if he was innocent."

"There wasn't enough information to prove he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," she said without missing a beat.

"And then you got too close to the royal family in Suna and ended up _seriously injured_ because of it."

"And I was fine—"

"And then you got too close to that shitstorm in Ame and ended up in prison—"

"I went to Ame with you," she argued.

"But you didn't _leave_ with me. If you had you wouldn't have ended up a political prisoner and wouldn't have gotten back to Konoha malnourished and half dead."

Jiraiya could see how tightly locked her jaw was and he felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He knew this was coming. He knew they were going to end up arguing. But his points were valid and needed to be said.

"I'm not trying to scold you, Hana," he said.

"Sure feels like it," she mumbled.

"You just tend to get close and then before you know it, you're in over your head. If you're covering these killings then you need to promise me that you're not doing anything stupid to get information that your competitors don't have."

He could just see the thoughts forming in her head. He remembered being like her once. He remembered being so hellbent on a story that he could give a shit if pursuing it put him in the ground. Hana was no different. If anything, she was worse since working in such a mundane setting, despite all the freedom and perks she was given.

"Hana," he said again. "Promise me. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

She avoided his gaze for a few long moments. And then just when he was about to launch into another lecture and start scolding her, her hazel eyes locked with his, so steady and so sure of herself that he had no reason to doubt her.

"I promise."

* * *

Shisui was stuck in the conference room downtown again, only instead of being with the team and Itachi, it was just him, Raido, and Hayate working on the profile. Itachi had gone out with Aoba to interview Asuma Sarutobi a little while ago and he should have been walking through the door any minute now.

Of course, that was before Chief Shimura all but barged into the conference room and demanded to speak with Shisui one-on-one.

Shisui didn't argue against it and followed Danzo out of the conference room and into his office where the man pretty much slammed the door shut behind them.

"You were talking to a reporter today. I need to know who and why," Danzo stated.

Shisui frowned and chose to remain standing, rather than sitting across from the chief.

"That reporter was Raido's roommate and I was just saying hello," Shisui said.

What the hell was this about?

"Just saying hello," he repeated. "Agent, perhaps your time would be better spent trying to catch this killer rather than talking to reporters or sleeping around," Danzo growled.

Shisui blinked.

What the fuck?

"Um. Sir?"

"Walking around with a _hickey_ when you're supposed to be catching a serial killer. Have a little self respect!"

Shisui's hand absentmindedly went to his neck. He thought the bruise Hana left had been low enough that you wouldn't be able to see it with his collar, but apparently he had been wrong.

He'd have to talk to her about that.

"Chief, what I do in the off hours—"

"What you do in the off hours should still revolve around this c—" Danzo's angry rant was cut off by a series of sputtering coughs that shook his body. Shisui sighed and rubbed his forehead.

When Danzo's coughing stopped, he returned his glare to Shisui.

"Sir, with all due respect killers like this take time to catch. We already have a list of potential suspects and—"

"And you haven't questioned them yet because…?" Danzo hissed.

Shisui's shoulders tensed. He felt like a new recruit all over again.

"Itachi should be on his way back from speaking with Asuma Sarutobi right now. As for Jiraiya and Orochimaru, we haven't been able to get in contact with either of them," Shisui explained, taking a deep breath to try and control that fiery Uchiha temper of his.

"Orochimaru?" Danzo repeated. "The biochemistry professor?"

Shisui's brows furrowed. "Yes. I gave you the list of potential suspects yesterday."

"You're wasting your time," Danzo said. "Orochimaru isn't capable of these murders. He's a scientist. Not a killer."

Was Shisui dropped on another planet or something?

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked. "I've caught killers who were parents, teachers, executives… Having a certain profession doesn't mean anything."

Danzo looked like he wanted to argue. The corner of his mouth twitched and he folded his hands together, twisting his fingers tighter and tighter together until the knuckles turned white.

He never got the chance.

He never got the chance because a frantic knocking came at the door. Danzo didn't even get the full phrase "come in" out before it opened to show Raido all but stumbling in with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Shisui asked right away, reading the distress on his face.

"You need to come right now. We have someone here who says she might know who the killer is," Raido said.

Shisui frowned and crossed his arms.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. She might know something but it's very unlikely that she knows exac—"

"No," Raido said, his voice insistent. "You need to speak with her. She has that same mark on her neck that all the victims had."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**THANK YOU MiyuKazu, Kellie, Kira2212, and Honestlyxx for the feedback(:**_

_**Sorry this chapter is so long lmao. I tried to cut it down ****¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**I'm without my beta this week and I am literally dying without her. So I apologize in advance for all the typos in here. I'll fix them as the week goes on.**_

* * *

Anko Mitarashi was not at all what Shisui had been expecting when Raido came bursting into Danzo's office with a person who might know the killer's identity.

She was attractive, albeit in a tough "I can kick your ass" sort of way. She had black painted nails, hair pulled up in a spiked ponytail, kept her arms crossed, and was constantly either smirking or glowering.

Shisui wasted no time taking her to an interrogation room and she sat down across from him with her arms crossed and chest pushed out. He tried to keep his body language open and understanding, but he had a feeling that that sort of thing fell on deaf ears when it came to Anko.

"So you gonna tell me about that tattoo on your neck?" Shisui asked.

Anko uncrossed her arms to rest her elbows on the table separating them in the small gray room.

"I will, but you have to hear me out first, okay?"

"Yeah, that's kind of the whole point of _this_," Shisui said, gesturing to the room they were in.

She smirked at him and recrossed her arms, staring him down.

"Are you aware that your tattoo has been found on every single victim of the Ryuchi Killings and that they've all been in the same spot?" Shisui asked, crossing one leg over the over.

"I read it about it online," Anko said. "That's why I'm here."

"Let's hear it then," he pressed.

She sighed and waited a moment before launching into her story.

"I used to work as a research assistant when I was at the University of Konoha for grad school. I studied with Orochimaru and his research was cutting edge. I don't know what he's working on anymore, but if he's continuing the research from before, then he could be on to serious medical innovations. This tattoo is kind of his mark."

Shisui immediately narrowed his eyes. Well, that would explain why they were unable to find any context for the symbol.

"He stamps all of his research with it. Lab results, articles, you name it. If he has something published, then this mark is somewhere in it. It's kind of a game amongst the research assistants—finding where he's hidden it. He likes the symbolism of the three tomoe, says it goes back to the relationship between heaven and earth."

Shisui was careful to be quiet and let her continue. He also was careful to not act too surprised, but that was hard to do considering her words.

Fucking hell, they needed to speak with this Orochimaru. If he had to arrest the guy to do so then he would.

"When I got to the end of my assistantship he offered me a full-time job. Naturally, I took it. He only ever offered a full-time position to me and one other person. Things were good. The research was fascinating and Orochimaru was—_is_ a complete and total genius."

She was blushing and looking down at the table instead of at Shisui and he decided that was the perfect chance to cut in.

"So why did you get that tattooed then? Because you idolized your professor?"

She blushed harder but glared at Shisui.

"You didn't see the research. He's a genius and I thought… Well I thought—"

"That getting his mark tattooed on you would show some kind of devotion? Or love?" He shrugged. "Maybe possession?"

She snorted, "you don't know what you're talking about."

He bit his tongue to hold back the retort on the top of his lungs and instead said a soft, "then enlighten me. Because right now, based off everything you've told me, I'm starting to think this Orochimaru is my number one suspect."

She shook her head right away and gritted her teeth.

"No! That's why I'm here! I don't think it's Orochimaru at all!"

"Then who do you think it is?" Shisui challenged.

"I think it's the other research assistant who was offered the full-time position," Anko said right away.

Shisui could feel the corner of his lips pull down into a frown.

"Kabuto Yakushi," she said. "He… Something wasn't right with him. Orochimaru's research revolved around a certain type of cell and its effects on the human body. Kabuto wanted to use these cells to experiment with live tissue."

"Like from people?" Shisui asked, narrowing his eyes.

"He never outright said it. He suggested we start with live animals and then work our way _up_ if need be."

Shisui wanted to cringe. He knew that it was common practice for scientists to experiment on live animals, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Work your way up to living, breathing people," he asked, trying to clarify.

She nodded. "That's right, though he never actually said it. It was more of a suggestion."

"Mm," he hummed. "Did he ever do anything else to make you think he was capable of being a killer? Other than being weirdly interested in this research, that is."

She looked down at her nails and began to chip away at the black nail polish.

"I shouldn't say this," Anko started, still chipping at her nail polish. "But one time he was late to work and when he came in he had a dead cat with him. I don't know where he got it, I was too freaked out to ask. Then he started experimenting on it and he learned that if he could drain the body of all the blood, then the cells would multiply in the body and start healing the wounds. He became obsessed with trying to do it to a living person, which obviously is easier said than done since the cells don't multiply right unless the body is completely drained."

Shisui's entire body stiffened and Anko's eyes definitely caught it.

"Yeah," she muttered. "I read an article that said all the bodies were drained of blood when you found them…"

Shisui wasn't sure if that detail was ever mentioned in any of the police reports given to the public or the press, but he didn't bother dwelling on it. Not with this new information.

"Anko," he said quickly. "Do you know where Kabuto works?"

"He was barred from working in any labs after some incident, and no, I don't know what it was. I know a few months ago he was working as an administrative assistant at Terumi Wealth Management. I would assume he's still there since he's not one to job hop."

Terumi Wealth Management.

Shisui's stomach hit the fucking floor.

Of fucking course the first serious lead would take him to Yumi's place of work. What kind of bullshit was that?

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes in frustration.

What kind of shit luck was this?

* * *

"They're called Zetsu cells," Orochimaru said. He stood behind Sasuke as he looked at the tissue sample under the microscope. "They're of my own invention and have incredible regenerative properties."

Sasuke couldn't stop staring through the microscope, watching the Zetsu cells go through the process of repairing and mending damage at an astounding rate. He had never seen anything like it. Hell, he never even heard of something existing that could even do that. He knew that Orochimaru was a genius, he just didn't know how much of a genius he was.

"This is incredible," Sasuke said.

"I know," Tayuya said with a smirk on her face. She marched over to where Sasuke was examining the cells and placed a hand on her hip. "Last semester we got the cells to grow back a leg on a lab rat."

Sasuke stared. There was no way in hell something like that could exist.

Right?

"That old geezer Sarutobi wants to cut the funding for the research," Sakon said, his mouth twisting into a distasteful grimace.

"But why?" Sasuke asked. He looked back down at the microscope, watching in awe as the Zetsu cells repaired the damage to the tissue sample.

"He doesn't understand what we're doing and he's too stubborn to come down to the lab and speak to Orochimaru himself. It's goddamn pathetic if you ask me," Tayuya quipped.

Sasuke pulled away from the microscope, trying to make sense of it all.

If these cells could repair damage and grow back a limb, then why in the hell would President Sarutobi want to cut the funding? It just didn't make any sense. What was he missing? Was there something they weren't telling him?

"What's the catch?" Sasuke asked.

"What do you mean?" Sakon said.

"President Sarutobi wouldn't cut the funding for something this innovative unless there were side effects or something that made it dangerous. So I'm asking what the catch is," Sasuke said. They could try and tell him their side of the story all they wanted. Say what you would about the president of the university. He wasn't an idiot and Sasuke damn well knew that.

The four other research assistants all looked at each other, communicating solely through eye contact alone. Sasuke spent enough of his life watching Itachi and Shisui look at each other like that to be intimately familiar with the gesture.

There was definitely something he was missing.

"You see, Sasuke. There's one caveat to the research that has brought us to a stalemate," Orochimaru said.

He looked down at Sasuke over his shoulder and Sasuke felt incredibly small under his gaze.

"The cells don't react properly unless a body has been completely drained of blood."

* * *

"Damn, I didn't even know Jiraiya was back in the country," Genma said from his cubicle. Hana sat in her own cubicle, reviewing Genma's notes from the press conference and nodded absentmindedly.

"Yeah, neither did I." She narrowed her eyes at one of his notes that said the FBI didn't have a comment and circled it with her pen. "Seriously? No comment from the FBI?"

"Nope," Genma said. He didn't even look over at her, too absorbed in his phone to look away.

"Weird," she said under her breath.

She went into work late, as she couldn't very well show up when Mr. Hyuga expected her to be at the press conference, and really found herself wishing she hadn't. Mr. Hyuga gave her a hell of a lot of freedom. If she needed to leave the office to pursue a story? No problem. If she had to come in late because she was interviewing someone? Great. She had a lot of freedoms that her other coworkers didn't have (thank you, Hiruzen), but she was still always expected to make up those hours.

And at this rate, unless Hana could pull an excuse out of her ass that was a legitimate reason for leaving work on time when she should have stayed late, she was going to be stuck at the office until eight or nine at night.

She pulled out her phone and found the number from last night, the one that those fanatics texted her from and typed out a text. Maybe they knew something that the feds didn't want the public to know just yet and could give her an excuse to leave on time. If she was pursuing a lead, then Mr. Hyuga wouldn't care if she left at a normal time. So once she found the number and drafted a text, she hit send, only for it to come back as 'undeliverable' mere seconds later.

What in the hell?

Did they have a burner phone or something?

"Hey Genma, do you know anything abou—"

"What's going on over there?" Genma asked curiously.

She looked away from her phone. "What are you talking about?"

Genma nodded at a group of people standing by one of the windows against the back wall of the office, all looking outside curiously. Hana raised her eyebrows in confusion and stood up to see for herself.

"Am I missing something?" She asked curiously when she reached the group by the window.

Yugao looked over her shoulder first and gave Hana a frosty glare. She was probably still mad at her for stealing the story from Yamato since those two were pretty close, and it took just about all of Hana's self restraint to not scoff or say something rude.

"The cops are here," Yugao muttered, turning away from Hana without another word.

Hana stared, jaw almost going slack as she did, and she shouldered her way past a few of her coworkers to get a better look outside.

She looked down from their third story window to see a cop car and a large black SUV pulling onto the street and parking in a red zone. A dark-headed officer in uniform got out of the marked car while two other individuals got out of the SUV and began to head into the building.

"Holy shit, what are the feds doing here?" Hana muttered to herself, gesturing behind her for Genma to take a look outside.

He craned his neck to look around some of the others and took one glance out the window and narrowed his eyes.

"I got no fuckin' clue," he said.

"I think that's either Aoba or Hayate with them," she pointed out. "We should go downstairs and see—"

"No," Genma said right away with a glare. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the window and stared her down. "Your little fed is already suspicious enough of you. If you just show up—"

"Uh, _he's_ the one who came to _my_ place of work."

"Hana. No. It's time to practice your self-control," Genma said, scolding her like a child or like they were still in high school when she had too much to drink but refused to stop. "And you don't know he's coming here. They could be here for any of the other businesses in the building."

She groaned in the most dramatic way possible and Genma just glowered at her as she did.

"What did I say to you about chilling the fuck out? I told you I would go to the press conference if you just chilled. I held up my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn."

"I hate you so much," she said, knowing full well that he was right and she was wrong.

"Don't care. You need to relax."

As if right on cue, Jiraiya's words echoed in the back of her head.

"_I'm here at the request of your father," Jiraiya told her. "He's been worried about you. Says you've been pretty stir crazy."_

_Her eye twitched._

"_I am not stir crazy."_

"_Oh of course not. And why would you be? You went from getting people off death row to political uprisings to civil wars and now you're covering celebrity affairs. Can't imagine why you'd ever be stir crazy."_

She locked her jaw tight enough to make her teeth hurt and stormed over to her cubicle like a toddler throwing a tantrum and crossed her arms.

How the hell was she supposed to write about the story if she couldn't go be nosy and investigate leads? How the hell was she supposed to temper her curiosity and intrigue and still get a halfway decent story? That was how she wrote all of her other pieces that were worth anything.

It was her relentless pursuit of information that set her aside from her competitors. And sure, Genma was probably right. She doubted Shisui would be amused if she turned up at yet another place connected to the murders, but how the hell else was she supposed to get information that _The Konoha Post_ and _Allied Network_ didn't have?

She didn't care what Genma said. She was going to figure out what the hell they were doing there one way or another.

* * *

Shisui's chest hurt as he walked into the office building. It was a wide building with a large, sunny atrium that welcomed him, Itachi, and Aoba. There was a directory on a television screen embedded in one of the walls, listing the offices in the large building, and Shisui carefully searched it, looking for Terumi Wealth Management.

The company must have been going through an expansion because the last time Shisui had seen Terumi Wealth Management had been when it was still operating out of a single suite in a red brick building that served as the business home for salons, spas, and chiropractors.

But this building? This space? This was the real deal.

His eyes searched the directory on the screen and just before they found what he was looking for, they scanned over one particular business that made his stomach sink.

BYAKUGAN TIMES. 3rd FLOOR.

Unlike some of the other businesses in the building that only rented out suites, the newspaper rented out an entire floor. And damnit, he must have stared at the name for a beat too long, because suddenly Itachi was at his side.

"Hm. Small world," he hummed.

"Seriously? That's all you have to say?" Shisui retorted.

Itachi just shrugged.

"It's just a coincidence. Come on. Yakushi isn't going to wait for us," Itachi said, sounding perpetually unbothered.

"We should stop by and say hello to Genma," Aoba said. He walked up behind them and saw the business Shisui was staring at and grinned. "Maybe I can get him to buy me lunch if I lie and tell him it's for Raido."

Itachi sighed, "there's no time. Come on. Terumi Wealth Management is on the other side of the building."

As they made their way over there, Shisui's mind raced a million miles a minute. Yet another unpleasant coincidence that put Hana Sarutobi too close to the case for comfort. He seriously doubted that she was connected to it, his gut told him she wasn't and after years in the Bureau, he learned to trust his gut above almost all else.

But for fuck's sake, why did she have to turn up in the most unsuspecting places?

When he met her at the bar that very first night, he only intended on it being a one night stand. And he was fine with the progression of their "relationship" (if you could even call it that). He liked the fact that things between them were strictly physical and that was it.

But fucking hell that didn't mean he wanted her to turn up at every fucking turn when it came to investigating a goddamn _serial killer_.

He couldn't let his thoughts linger on Hana any longer because then they were walking into Terumi Wealth Management and he had to calm down.

He was on edge, his eyes flickering about, hoping and praying that he wouldn't see Yumi walking by on her way to the kitchen to grab a tea or something. And had it not been for the steady presence of Itachi beside him, Shisui was certain he would have had an outright panic attack right there.

There was a redheaded woman at the front desk, standing behind a receptionist with her arms crossed and watching the computer with scrutiny.

And at the arrival of their group, she immediately turned away from the computer and greeted them with a seductive smile, fluttering her lashes as she did.

The term "bombshell" didn't come close to describing her.

"My my," she hummed. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Boys? It's not every day I get so many handsome young men stopping by. Need to rollover your IRA? Invest more in your 401(k)?"

Neither Itachi nor Aoba stood a chance in successfully bantering with this woman, so Shisui took charge and gave her an easy smile that made dimples pierce his cheeks.

"That all sounds very tempting, but we're actually here on a different sort of business."

Her eyes flitted to Aoba before returning back to Shisui.

"How can I help? After all, I love a man in uniform."

He smirked and outstretched his hand, noticing the way she delicately shook it and subtly pushed her chest out as she did.

"I'm Agent Shisui Uchiha with the FBI," he said, producing his badge from his pocket and flashing it at her. She had the prettiest shade of eyes he had ever seen, a striking seafoam green that made him wonder if they were contacts. She looked over the badge, seemingly impressed and looked him straight in the eye.

"This is my partner, Agent Itachi Uchiha, and that's Officer Aoba Yamashiro. We were wondering if you might be able to help us with something."

"Mei Terumi," she said, resting a hand on her hip and smirking at Shisui with what only could be described as bedroom eyes. "If you're here for an audit, be my guest. Unlike those idiots from Yagura's firm, my books are clean."

"We're not from the white collar division," Shisui assured. "And I'm sure a smart woman like yourself would never do anything that would draw their attention. You don't strike me as the type to keep two sets of books, and I'm an excellent judge of character." He let his eyes flicker across her face and linger a moment too long at her lips for extra effect.

The flattery worked, as she was quick to flutter her lashes and smirk at all three of them.

"Well then," she said, still smirking. "What is it you need?"

"We're looking for a man named Kabuto Yakushi. We were told he might still work here and we have some questions for him," Itachi answered, probably having enough of the flirting and small talk.

Mei didn't try to hide her surprise. She blinked a few times and straightened her back so she no longer was pushing her chest out.

"Kabuto is my office manager," Mei said with a frown. "Is he in trouble?"

"We just need to speak with him," Shisui said, offering her a small smile in hopes that she wouldn't deem them a threat and prevent them from seeing Yakushi.

"Very well," she said with a curt nod. "Come with me."

"Aoba, you stay here," Itachi said. "Your presence might make him nervous."

Aoba sighed and nodded, going over to one of the chairs in the waiting room and pretty much throwing himself into it.

"Right, because feds wouldn't make him nervous at all," Aoba retorted.

"We're not the ones wearing a uniform," Shisui teased.

Aoba smirked at him but leaned back, folded his hands behind his head, and looked up at the ceiling without another word.

Mei walked them through the suite. It was smaller than Shisui initially thought. There were two hallways going in opposite directions behind the reception desk and a little kitchenette down the left hallway, but other than that, it was pretty sparse except for the offices that pretty much all had their doors shut.

She took them to the last door on the left and knocked twice before opening the door and ushering them inside.

Seated at the desk was a man younger than Shisui expected.

He had long gray hair that was pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, dark eyes that were hidden behind round glasses, and wore a pair of black slacks and a purple button down.

"Miss Terumi," he greeted with a slight inclination of his head. "Something going on?"

"These two wanted to speak with you," Mei said.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Yakushi," Shisui said, taking charge like he usually did. He shook Kabuto's hand. "I'm Agent Shisui Uchiha and this is my partner Itachi Uchiha. We're with the FBI and we'd like to speak with you for a few minutes if you'll allow it."

Kabuto inclined his head downward, just enough for the reflection of his glasses to temporarily hide his eyes.

"Certainly Agents," Kabuto said. "Miss Terumi, I know you're very busy. I can take it from here."

Mei looked uncertain, but after one look at Kabuto and an easy smile from Shisui, she nodded and headed out of his office, closing the door behind her as she did.

"Need to see the books, Gentlemen?" Kabuto asked, gesturing for one of them to take a seat in the only other chair in the office. Shisui nodded his head at Itachi, and Itachi sank into the chair with catlike grace.

"No thank you," Itachi said. "We're with the unit covering the Ryuchi Killings."

Kabuto seemed to be expecting that, as not even a flicker of surprise or shock flashed across his face. He just nodded sagely, as if he knew this day was coming.

"Well, I don't know much about them other than what's been released to the public, but I'd love to help any way I can. What can I do for you?"

Shisui took immediate notice of the fact that Kabuto didn't ask why they were coming to _him_ of all people, which was generally the first question people asked when he and Itachi showed up to question them.

Interesting.

"We were wondering about your time working as a research assistant under a professor at the university," Itachi said.

Kabuto once again nodded his head sagely, maintaining careful eye contact with both him and Itachi.

"Of course," he started. "When I heard about the marks left on the victims I knew you'd eventually come to me and all the other research assistants. That three pronged tomoe certainly is Orochimaru's favorite little seal."

Shisui crossed his arms. Now he was backtracking. He probably knew that he messed up when he didn't ask why Shisui and Itachi came to him and was on damage control.

"Yes," Itachi hummed, and Shisui knew that his cousin saw right through the bullshit in an instant.

"Just out of curiosity, if you knew that mark would lead us to you, why not come to the station and talk to us? It would have saved us a lot of time," Shisui said.

He knew it was cliché of them, but any time he and Itachi both questioned a suspect together, Itachi always ended up playing the good cop while Shisui always ended up playing the bad cop.

It wasn't even a conscious decision, but rather something that they found themselves doing without much thought.

Kabuto's eyes disappeared again behind the reflection of his glasses for a fraction of a second.

"Police make me nervous, as they do with most people. I simply was acting in my best interests."

"Your best interests, but not the city's," Shisui deadpanned.

That was too much too fast and he knew it. His frayed nerves from being at Yumi's place of work and the Hana coincidence clearly had worked their toll on him.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're implying, Agent," Kabuto remarked. He rested his chin on his hand and gave them a bored look.

"Oh no? Seems like you might," Shisui replied.

"We're not here to interrogate you," Itachi cut in, and thank fuck for that because Shisui was feeling a little too confrontational for his own good. "We just want to talk about the possible connection here. If you wouldn't mind telling us—"

"I'm sorry, Agents, but there's really not much to _interrogate_ me about. That mark on the victims is Orochimaru's mark. Perhaps you should talk to him instead of his former research assistant."

Kabuto gave Shisui a smug little smirk that raised his blood pressure.

The fucker knew exactly what he was doing.

"Again," Itachi cut in before Shisui could. "We're not interrogating you, just having a conversation."

"Does he know that?" Kabuto asked casually, looking Shisui in the eye and pointing at him with his grubby little finger.

Shisui bit his tongue.

This little shit knew something and it was something significant. And the worst part was that _he_ knew that _Shisui_ knew that.

Hence the sudden shift in mood.

"I can leave," Shisui said, trying not to clench his jaw. "By all means, have a conversation with me out of the room."

Kabuto looked like he was pondering it, but then he let out a fake little yawn and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm afraid that I have too much work to do. If you'd like to interrogate me then I suggest you bring me down to the station for questioning," he said, not looking at either of them. "I'll just need a heads up so I can call my lawyer. I know how the police have a habit of twisting words into something they're not, and I'd rather have someone there with my best interests if that happens."

Shisui stared blankly at him, unsure of whether or not he wanted to kick somebody's teeth in so much before in his life.

"That won't be necessary," Itachi said right away. "Shisui was just leaving, so there's no reason to feel as though you're being interrogated."

Itachi looked over his shoulder and shot Shisui an aggravated look, and Shisui sighed and nodded just as he turned around slipped out of the office.

What the fuck was wrong with him? Since when did he act like such a fucking loose cannon? He wasn't some new kid on the force. He had done this countless times and never lost his head like that before.

Nursing his pride, Shisui headed down the hall to join Aoba in the waiting room. He took long, slow steps and was passing the little kitchenette when his worst fears were realized.

"Shisui?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and paused, mid-step, bracing himself for the moment he had to see fucking Yumi standing there. Summoning what little was left his courage, he looked over his shoulder and found not Yumi looking at him, but someone infinitely worse.

Mukai.

Shisui stared at him for a few beats longer than necessary, taking in his long brown hair, light eyes, and slightly wrinkled slacks and button down.

Shisui hated him.

"Long time no see," Mukai said, offering Shisui a nervous smile that absolutely, positively, one-hundred percent did not look even remotely convincing.

"Not nearly long enough," Shisui deadpanned, satisfied with the way Mukai's eyes flickered away from his cold stare.

Mukai sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"You look good," Mukai said. "Last time I saw you—"

He didn't need to be reminded of last time. He couldn't forget it no matter how hard he tried. He could still _feel_ how cold he had been, sitting in the back of that ambulance in the middle of the night with a blanket around his soaking wet body as an EMT listened to his breathing with a stethoscope.

"Yeah," Shisui muttered. He turned away to walk back into the waiting room, but Mukai couldn't take the hint and just leave him the fuck alone.

"What are you doing here?" Mukai pressed, standing outside the kitchen and watching Shisui, already more than halfway down the hallway.

"Here for work," Shisui muttered, leaving no room in his tone for more conversation.

"Still with the Bureau then?" Mukai asked.

Shisui didn't answer him. He just turned his back completely and walked further away until he was back in the waiting room with a bored Aoba and nervous receptionist tapping away at the computer, pretending they didn't exist.

"Oooh, did you get kicked out?" Aoba asked with a sleazy grin. Shisui chuckled in spite of himself and shrugged.

"I'm the bad cop here," he said.

"Really?" Aoba quipped. "I would think that Itachi would be the bad cop since he's the quiet one and you're so damn friendly."

"You'd think that'd be the case," Shisui said, sitting down beside Aoba. "But no. Itachi's always the good cop."

A lot of good that did them though, because only a few minutes later Itachi was walking down the hallway with his hands in his pockets and mouth slanting downward into a frown.

Shisui's stomach knotted.

"He wants a lawyer, doesn't he?" Shisui asked, fearing the answer but knowing what it was going to be anyway.

Itachi nodded but refrained from saying anything else since they were currently accompanied by a nervous receptionist.

"Great," Shisui muttered. He and Aoba stood up, each said thank you to the receptionist, and left the office right away.

No point in wasting time. If they couldn't get Yakushi to talk then they were better off going to the station and working on the profile there or trying to get in contact with Orochimaru or getting a goddamn warrant for Yakushi's arrest.

On their way back to the atrium, Aoba weighed in.

"We should hang back and scope him out, see where he goes after work and what he's up to."

It wasn't a half bad idea, but Shisui couldn't help but think that their time and energy might be better allocated elsewhere.

Like with trying to get in contact with Orochimaru.

"Aoba!"

They had just reached the atrium when a voice echoed and filled the room around them. Shisui sighed and crossed his arms, completely unamused.

Aoba looked around until he found the source of the voice.

Not surprisingly at all, it belonged to a tall, lanky, freckle-faced journalist giving Aoba a charming smile as she walked over to them from the direction of the bathrooms.

Shisui frowned and he could hear his Aunt Mikoto's words, soft as a far off memory, telling him that if he frowned any harder, then his face would get stuck like that.

"Sarutobi!" Aoba called out with a grin. He waved her over and she took long strides until she met their group, only she gave every ounce of her attention to Aoba instead of Shisui, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"I'm going to call Hayate and tell him what just happened," Itachi said, excusing himself to walk away from the group as he pulled out a cell phone and held it to his ear.

"Shisui, this is my buddy, Han—"

"We've met," Shisui said without a moment's hesitation and voice a little too steely to be welcoming.

Aoba looked between him and Hana a few times, almost comically, and then a dirty smirk slithered onto his face.

"_Oh_. Of course you have," he teased.

Shisui watched the way Hana rolled her eyes, though there was fondness to the gesture, and she lazily swatted at his arm.

Unable to play the aloof version of himself for much longer, Shisui decided to cut the shit and get straight to the point. He was already put off with the Kabuto thing and seeing Mukai only put a dirty taste in his mouth. He was irritable and annoyed and couldn't take it any longer.

"Can you give us a minute?" Shisui asked Aoba in that same steely voice from before.

He didn't wait for Aoba's response, as he already started walking away and nodded at Hana for him to follow.

She looked at him in confusion, one eyebrow raising above the other as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Who pissed in your Cheerios?" She asked.

"You keep showing up at every single area of interest regarding this case and I can't deal with it anymore. What are you playing at?"

Hana didn't miss a beat. She wasn't put off by the cold resolve in his voice or even the way he glared at her and honestly, he was a little impressed.

"Uh hate to break it to you, _Babe, _but you came to my place of work. This time is not my fault," she said. She then shrugged and grinned. "I'll take the blame for the last few times, but it's all on you this time."

He looked at her long and hard, and then deflated and let out a heavy sigh.

"Not my fault that the universe keeps making our paths cross," she said with a smirk that crinkled the corners of her eyes.

"Oh yeah? Is that what's happening?" He asked tiredly but with his cold resolve slowly melting away.

"Mhm," she said with an ease that he envied. She searched his face and then her lips pursed into a thin line. "What's up with you? You're off again."

He rubbed the bottom of his chin as he noticed Itachi rejoining Aoba in his peripheral vision.

"Yeah. Guess I am," he muttered.

She cocked her head to the side just barely, and said a soft, "want to come over tonight?"

A complete stranger and someone with half a brain would have been able to see his hesitation from a mile away, but it didn't deter Hana. Nothing seemed to deter the unapologetic journalist (as Shisui was starting to realize).

She smiled again, a softer one that was gentle and intimate and meant only for him.

"It can just be a friendly visit, one with drinks where you can interrogate me all you want," she paused and grinned "Although, you should probably know that my AC still hasn't gotten fixed and it's still gross and hot at my place."

He chuckled in spite of himself, nerves seemingly placated as she smiled all prettily at him. He was always a sucker for a pretty face.

And then Danzo's nasty words echoed in the bad of his head, calling him out for a mark on his neck and saying that he should have been spending more energy on the case.

But despite the resounding echo of Danzo's miserable words, Shisui still smirked. And then suddenly Itachi and Aoba were waving at him, gesturing him to leave Hana and walk over to them.

"Totally up to you," Hana said, noticing his cue to leave as well. "You can definitely come over and we can just chill and have drinks. If that's not your cup of tea, that's cool too. Just throwing the offer out there."

There was something about the offer being left in his ball-court that eased the tension in his gut and the tightness in his chest. He liked being able to decide on an offer himself. He usually was the one who made the offers, so it was nice having the roles reversed.

"But if you come over," Hana said, her eyes glinting in the sunlight that streamed through the atrium. That was when he noticed the flecks of gold in her hazel eyes. "That's the only chance you get to ask me whatever questions you want."

He grinned now, not even bothering to try and hide it.

"You drive a hard bargain," he said, still smiling.

She grinned back. "You got no idea."

"I'll let you know, okay?" Shisui said, resting a hand on her shoulder with a soft smile, one that appeared on his face without his permission.

"Sounds like a plan," she said, giving him that same disarming, cheeky grin from before.

"Hey, Sarutobi!" Aoba's voice cracked the peaceful moment that settled between them and Shisui held back a sigh.

"What?" Hana called back as she walked away from Shisui and headed over to Aoba.

"You still owe me twenty bucks for that game!"

Shisui followed her over to them and watched as she huffed and produced a wallet from her back pocket.

"Yeah yeah," she said, but she still pulled out a bill and handed it to Aoba who gave her the biggest shit-eating grin Shisui had ever seen.

"We gotta go. Tell Genma to stop by the station and bring us food, yeah?" Aoba remarked.

Hana scoffed, "I'm sorry? When did you change your name to Raido?"

Aoba snickered and she did too, each of them nudging each other and making snippy little comments under their breath. Shisui decided he liked seeing that side of Hana, all joking and lighthearted, lovingly making fun of her friends.

It was definitely better than the horrifically curious side of her that got into things she had no business getting into.

"We gotta go," Shisui said, plunging his hands into his pockets. He nodded at Aoba and Itachi, and they got the hint.

Time to leave.

"See you later, Sarutobi," Aoba said with a devilish smirk, wrapping his arm around her in a headlock that turned her face red and made her bark curses at him as she blindly threw some punches his way.

He let go after Itachi got to the front door and Shisui lingered, just long enough to see her run her fingers through that messy brown hair with a small smile on her freckled face.

"Call me?" She asked, still wearing that small—almost shy—smile.

He smirked at her and nodded, not looking back as he left with Itachi and Aoba.

* * *

Hana had just finished up her latest article for Mr. Hyuga and sent it to him in a hasty email, hoping he wouldn't be annoyed with her _just-barely-made-it _deadline.

She hoped he would be fine. He usually was at least.

She had been sitting alone in her apartment, sipping on margaritas, watching the news and reading printed newspapers from her competitors when she sent it off. And if all went well, he would approve it right away and she would be set to make it to another day.

She fingered one of the pages of her newspapers, one from _Allied Network,_ as she read about the Ryuchi Killings and the political disaster that was going on in Iwa.

She liked the ability of having everything online within a blink of an eye, but she also liked having a physical newspaper to hold onto as she read.

Hence her current state, wearing nothing but shorts and a sports bra, sweating in her humid apartment, as she watched the news, read articles, and sipped on a margarita that had a little too much tequila in it.

Her eyes scanned across the paper, reading the Iwa article.

Hell, what she wouldn't give to be there right now…

Her chest filled with a horrible ache, a desperate desire to make something of herself and do something meaningful with her pathetic life. She could only imagine what she would be doing if she had been in Iwa. Undoubtedly she'd be making friends with locals during the day and staying up until dawn's first light to write their stories.

It hurt… Knowing that she could be over there, making a difference and telling the stories of the locals. It made her stomach clench and chest burn with a fierce desire to jump into action.

But no. She was stuck in Konoha, working at a little newspaper to appease her father.

What would her mother say if she saw her?

Biwako probably would have told her to stop being pathetic and to jump into action, her father be damned, and Hana's chest ached for the presence of a woman she had never really known.

Jiraiya was officially on her father's side, advocating for her to live a safe life under the protection of Konoha, and Asuma was no better. Ever since he got married and had a pregnant wife, he couldn't be bothered with the things that Hana truly loved, such as a burning desire to go away to another country and live as they did to see what was really going on in those war-torn areas.

Maybe, if he was still alive, her godfather would have taken her side.

She didn't remember much of him, only that he had a kind face and loved her dearly. But then again, most of Hana's memories centering around her godfather had nothing to do with him himself, but rather of her father mourning him.

Hiruzen mourned his death for years, him along with a few childhood friends, and the image of her father speaking with Tobirama Senju himself following the death of her godfather would forever be burned into the back of her eyelids.

She had only been a little girl at the time, maybe five or six years old. She was supposed to be down for a nap following a dinner that Biwako had held in honor of her godfather. But instead of sleeping like she was supposed to, Hana had gotten up and walked through the house with light footsteps, passing a hallway and hiding when she realized her father was standing there accompanied by Tobirama Senju.

She had hidden in the bathroom and peeked her head around the corner, watching the way the fearsome Senju man curled in on himself, crossing his arms and pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes tightly. Her father had looked down at the floor, trying to hide his own despair.

Hana could count on one hand how many times she had seen her father cry. One of those times had been after her mother passed away and the other had been in that moment, standing with Tobirama Senju and mourning a man that supposedly loved her, but a man that she'd never gotten the chance to know.

It was all rather sad if you asked her.

She didn't get the chance to dwell on those thoughts though, as her phone vibrating on the table pulled her away from the distant memory.

"Well hello there, Stranger," she greeted with a soft voice after having looked at the caller ID.

Shisui's voice was rough on the other line, but the unmistakable sound of his chuckling filled her ears and made her stomach flutter in the most pleasing way.

"That invitation to come over for drinks still open?"

She looked at her too strong margarita and a smile played at the corner of her lips.

"Of course. Margaritas sound good?"

She could just _hear_ the smile in his words and her stomach fluttered again.

"Sounds perfect. I'll be there in the next half-hour or so."

She smirked to herself and fiddled with a lock of hair.

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

**_THANK YOU to all my lovelies who left comments on the last chapter: Honestlyxx (yeah it was Tom Petty reference from Mary Jane's Last Dance hahaha), MiyuKazu, Kira2212, evabrennan, and Kellie. Reviews literally make me so happy ugh y'all are the best._**

_**See you next Sunday! (I'm thinking after next week I'll start updating twice a week instead of once, but we'll see!)**_


	10. Chapter 10

To say that Shisui looked stressed out when he stopped by would be a gross understatement. His dark eyes were rimmed with red and his hair was a mess, curls sticking up in all different directions as if he'd run his hands through it a million times. He swapped out his work polo for a plain black t-shirt, black jeans, and black Vans, the only other color on him coming from a silver watch around his left wrist. And while Hana was all for the tall-dark-and-handsome look he had going on, she could see his exhaustion from a mile away.

"Rough day?" She asked as she let him inside.

He just gave her a weak smile that said all it needed to.

"Couldn't pass up the opportunity to interrogate me, huh?" She said with a playful smirk, hoping that it would get him to lighten up at least a little bit.

"Not a chance," Shisui said, casually throwing a wink at her when they got into her living and he pretty much collapsed onto her sofa, resting his head against the back of the cushions and closing his eyes with a sigh. "You seriously need to get your AC fixed. I think I'm getting heatstroke."

"It's all that black you wear. No room for anything to breathe," she quipped. He chuckled under his breath and Hana took that as her opportunity to go into the kitchen and make them margaritas, choosing to not be so heavy handed with the tequila this time. Definitely didn't want to accidentally drink too much and say something she'd regret.

"One shitty margarita for you," she said, handing him the drink and sitting down beside him, drawing her legs up beneath her to sit on.

"Red solo cup?" He asked, smirking at her with a glint in his eyes. "Feels like I'm back in college."

"Hey, take it or leave it, Pal."

He chuckled under his breath and took a sip of the drink, seemingly feeling better now that there was a cool drink to distract him from the stifling heat of the apartment.

"All right," she said when a comfortable silence settled over them. "Let me hear all these questions you have."

That seemed to interest him, as he shifted so he faced her directly, holding her eyes with his.

"You asked for it, Sarutobi."

"I don't ask for anything I can't handle, Uchiha," she retorted, knowing all too well that she was bordering a shit eating grin.

He smirked to himself, hiding the gesture in the rim of his cup as he took another swig of his drink.

"All right then. What's your connection to the University of Konoha and the journalism professor Jiraiya?"

"I wasn't expecting you to pull your punches. But sure, let's start with the easy stuff first," she said with a grin. "My father is Hiruzen Sarutobi and he's the president of the school. My brother, Asuma Sarutobi, is a professor in the criminal justice department, and as for me, I graduated from there a few years ago. Jiraiya is both a family friend and my mentor. He taught me everything I know about writing."

Shisui's eyes didn't give away a damn thing. They were carefully guarded and his expression was remarkably flat. So she didn't have any idea what he was thinking. She tried not to dwell on that little fact, as it was likely going to drive her insane if she did.

"I was doing some research on Jiraiya. He's been to some pretty high conflict areas—areas that the government told the citizens to avoid because of the danger," Shisui said.

Hana shrugged. "Yeah. Can't say I'm innocent of that either."

Shisui narrowed his eyes for a fraction of a second before he carefully masked his expression again.

"Makes me wonder if the guy has PTSD from all of those trips," he hummed.

Hana caught the unasked question in there, evident from his tone.

She took a long sip of her drink and said, "having PTSD doesn't make someone a serial killer."

"Never said it did," Shisui said with the ease of someone who had done this sort of thing far too many times.

"But it was implied," Hana said right away. "Jiraiya doesn't fit your timeline. He's been out of the country for too long."

Shisui sighed, "I know. I'm just asking."

"Next question?"

"What were you doing up so late last night when you texted me?"

Hana blinked at him. Well, that certainly wasn't a question she expected.

"I was working on a story," she said carefully. "Going to bed late is pretty common in my profession."

He nodded and busied himself with his drink.

"If these are the only questions you've got then—"

"I just want to know why you're so connected to this case," Shisui finally blurted with a heavy sigh. "We met at a bar and then the next day I see you at a murder scene. Then I find out that you're buddy-buddy with my entire team. Then I go to meet with President Sarutobi and, surprise, you show up. And then today? I go to Terumi Wealth Management to question someone and it's the same location as _Byakugan Times—_and don't tell me that you just happened to be in the downstairs bathroom at the same time we were leaving… Come on. That's weird. All of that."

Hana hadn't realized she was so connected with everything. In her mind, she was just another starved journalist being a nosy pain in the ass as she tried to piece things together. But to Shisui?

Shit. No wonder he was so skeptical of her.

"Well you're right about today," she said as she fiddled with her hair. "People in the office noticed the cops show up and we were all being creeps and watching you guys from the window. I figured one of the guys was with you, so I was being a total creep and lurking around. But to be fair, I haven't seen Aoba or Hayate in weeks."

Shisui stared at her for a long, drawn out moment. Hana even had half the mind to wonder if she just let it slip that she was the one covering the Ryuchi Killings with the way he stared at her, but then he broke the silence just as quickly as it appeared.

"Seriously? That's all you have to say to that? To everything I just said? One instance of you being a creep?"

"Hey," Hana said, feigning offense. "It was only one time."

"And everything else?" Shisui pressed.

Hana shrugged. With the exception of running into Shisui at Gotta Iburi's murder scene, everything else really had been a coincidence.

"I know it's not what you want to hear, but everything else is really just a coincidence. Even you guys showing up at my work today was a coincidence. Granted, me stalking Aoba was not, but you guys showing up there? Yeah. Coincidence. Sorry, Shisui. I wish I could say more to convince you, but it's just dumb luck."

The half-lidded look he gave her was too heavy and it made her stomach flutter.

"Just the universe making our paths cross, huh?"

She could feel her cheeks flush at him using her line from earlier and scoffed.

"You don't have to make fun of me," she retorted, but there was an embarrassed smile on her face. She finished off the rest of her drink and stood up, holding her hand out for Shisui to give her his. "Refill?"

He let out a defeated sigh and offered her a weak smile as he handed the cup to her.

"Thanks," he said under his breath.

When Hana disappeared into her kitchen she sucked in a sharp breath and braced herself against the counter. She then dropped her head between her shoulders and rolled out her neck.

Why was she feeling so nervous all of a sudden? What was this tightness coiling in her gut?

It couldn't have been guilt, right?

Shisui was just someone she was sleeping with to hopefully get information from. Granted, she hadn't gotten much information from him at all. The main information she had came from her father and Kin. So far, the only information she'd gotten from Shisui had been that they questioned someone from Terumi Wealth Management, and that was definitely a slip up on his part.

She knew that was a piece of information no one else had and she was grateful for it, but why did her gut have to coil when she thought about using that information to her advantage?

What the hell was there to be guilty about? Nothing. Hana never felt even the slightest guilt for pursuing a story in the past. Why should she start now?

Exactly. She shouldn't.

Sucking in another breath of hot humid air, Hana shook her head and busied her thoughts with refilling their drinks.

Everything was fine. She was just being stupid. She would go back in there and everything would be normal again.

Finding her courage, she strolled back into the living room with a new level of confidence after her little pep talk and braced herself for more of Shisui's questions.

Only he wasn't looking in her direction at all, but rather he was looking down at a picture frame he held with wide eyes.

Hana frowned and furrowed her brow, walking closer and setting the cups on one of the side tables so she could look over his shoulder to see what the hell he was looking at.

She didn't even see what picture it was first because she got distracted with how flushed Shisui's face was and how tightly he clutched the frame, evident from the way his veins strained themselves in the backs of his hands.

She managed to pull her eyes away from him and focused on the photograph next. It was just a picture of her as a toddler (maybe two or three years old?) being propped up on the hip of her godfather as he pointed to the camera, obviously trying to get her to look at the lens. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, she opted for trying to cut the sudden tension with something lighthearted.

"Okay, I know I was a cute kid but you don't have to look so surprised."

It was like Shisui didn't even hear her.

"Who is this?" he asked.

In an instant, those dark irises flickered up to her and stared her down with such a weight that Hana felt like she could hardly breathe.

She sank into the cushion directly beside him and gently pried the photograph away from his now trembling hands and gave it a thoughtful once over.

"My godfather," she said. "Don't know much about him seeing as he passed away when I was really little, but I'm pretty sure he was a cop and died in the line of duty. Something about an explosion? Not totally sure. Why do you ask?"

Shisui's eyes flickered right back to the picture frame and he rubbed the bottom of his chin, deep in thought.

"He wasn't a cop," he murmured, so softly that Hana had to strain her ears to hear it.

She frowned. "Huh?"

"Your godfather," he said, voice painfully strained. "He wasn't a cop. He was an FBI agent."

What?

"He worked in counter-terrorism. Went to go work on a case one morning, got in the car, turned it on, and then," Shisui's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "It blew up."

The silence was so goddamn loud that Hana flinched.

She had a million questions stuck at the top of her lungs, but every time she tried to voice them her throat closed up.

Then finally, when the deafening silence had gone on long enough, Shisui looked at her with a bitter smirk.

"I watched him from the kitchen window that morning." He pointed to the photograph that now felt too hot to touch. "Kagami Uchiha. That's my father."

Hana didn't know what to say.

What the hell could she even say to that? What did you say to a guy who just told you that he watched his own father get blown up when he was just a child?

Her eyes went back to the photo and then to Shisui. He wasn't looking at her. He was just kinda looking off into space, idly fiddling with the silver watch around his wrist.

She set the picture frame down on the side table and rested her cheek in her hand as she looked at him.

"You look like him," she said finally. She reached over with a tiny little smile on her face and mussed his hair. "Your cousins both have pin straight hair, so I was wondering where the curls came from."

And thank whatever higher power there was because Shisui actually graced her with a laugh. It was quiet and breathy, but it was still there and she was beyond happy to hear it.

"Yeah, the curly hair isn't really normal for an Uchiha," he said under his breath, wearing the ghost of a smile.

"So if you're Kagami's son," Hana started, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Then how have you and I never met before? Or better yet, how have you and my father never met before?"

Shisui looked just as confused as she felt. The corners of his lips pulled down into a frown and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Maybe we met when we were kids? I was eight when he died so it's possible, right?"

"Maybe," she said under her breath. But it didn't feel right. She could understand never having met Shisui herself. Her memory wasn't clear, she had been too young for that, but Kagami died when she was either five or six. And if Shisui was eight, then maybe their paths never crossed because he was a slightly older kid and couldn't be bothered to hang out with a little girl.

That made sense to her.

What didn't make sense was her father. Not in the slightest.

"Did my dad recognize you or anything when you and Itachi met with him?" she pressed.

His frown only deepened as he shook his head and said, "he didn't mention anything."

She mulled it over and crossed her arms, leaning against the back of the sofa. It just didn't make sense.

"That doesn't make any sense," she said, unable to let it go. "My dad loved your father. He mourned him for years. You'd think he would have—I don't know—tried to see you or something since you were Kagami's son. I just don't get it."

"Yeah. I don't know," Shisui said.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. She just wanted to pick up her phone, call her father, and demand some answers. And honestly, had it not already been so late, she would have.

Then another thought settled over her.

"Is this weird then?" she asked curiously. She nudged Shisui with her elbow and he finally looked at her.

"What is?" He smirked. "The universe making our paths cross? Hate to break it to you, _Babe_, but it's been weird."

She laughed and shook her head.

"No, I mean the whole 'casually hooking up' thing," she said. "Is it weird now that you know your father was my godfather?"

He laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling and dimples piercing his cheeks. He looked good when he laughed freely like that, Hana thought.

Not like it was the first time she'd seen him laugh or anything. Shisui was pretty easy going for the most part. He was big on cheeky grins and casual touches, but there was definitely part of him that always seemed to have his guard up.

But it seemed to be missing now as if the revelation of his father wore away the rest of the guard he kept up. His shoulders weren't pulled so taut, the lines in his forehead smoothed out, and the way he looked at her was relaxed and easy, almost fond really.

"It's only weird if you make it weird," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, well if anyone can make this weird it's me," she said. "I mean seriously. The whole situation is just odd. I know I was joking about it earlier when I said the universe was making our paths cross but your dad being my godfather is just next level. Especially when you consider the fact that—"

He cut her off, hand curling around the nape of her neck and pulling her against him until he was kissing her softly and drawing the breath from her chest.

"Stop talking," he murmured against her lips.

Her eyes fluttered shut, kissing him back and letting him pull her into his lap until her legs straddled either side of him.

She was all too aware of the newfound softness in his touch, the way one hand rested on her lower back, fingers splayed as he pressed her closer, and how the hand that was at the nape of her neck carefully moved to cup her cheek and how his thumb brushed against her cheekbone.

It was doing all sorts of things to her, things other than the obvious heat pooling low in her gut and between her legs.

Her stomach fluttered in response and suddenly it was like there was a weight pressing down on her chest and she knew she was done for.

It wasn't the first time she'd felt that way about some guy. There had been her high school boyfriend and that guy in Suna she'd fallen stupidly in love with. But it _was_ the first time Shisui made her feel like that, all fluttery and rattled and _stupid_.

And holy shit did it catch her off guard.

"Still think it's weird?" He asked, pulling back just enough so all she could focus on were those intense, _smoldering_ eyes.

Her heart felt like it was suddenly lodged in the back of her throat and she could hear her stupid pulse in her ears, an annoying reminder of what was happening to her.

And fucking hell if he could just _stop_ brushing his thumb against her cheek like that she might be able to breathe again.

"I'll let you know," she said, wanting to just die when her voice cracked the way it did.

He chuckled, the low rumbling of it colliding against her chest and definitely making it impossible to breathe.

He rested back a bit, putting a little bit more space between them (of course this was ignoring the fact that she was still straddling him) and very casually, almost absentmindedly, ran his fingers through her hair with a little sigh.

There was an undeniable fondness in his eyes as he looked at her, and Hana was ready to get off of him and kick him out if he was going to continue looking at her like that. She just couldn't quite deal with the way it made her feel, especially when she considered the guilt from earlier that was coiling in her gut again.

"Guess everything really has just been a bunch of coincidences, huh?" he asked. His voice was low and rough enough to send shivers up her spine.

"For the most part," she said. She was all too relieved when her voice didn't crack again. "So am I off the hook?"

He smiled at her. It was completely unguarded, albeit a little tired, and he reached up to fiddle with the ends of her hair, twisting a lock between his fingers and making her cheeks flush without her permission.

"Yeah, I guess you're off the hook."

"Oh hell yeah," she said with a grin.

His smile widened and then without another word, he pulled her against him so their chests were touching and kissed her again.

Heaven help her because there was no way in hell she'd be able to keep things casual if she actually slept with him right now. She needed a day or two to clear her head so she didn't do anything stupid—because she _absolutely_ was prone to doing stupid shit when she felt this sort of way.

Damnit though, it was too hard to say no to him. She didn't want to say no to him. Not with the way his lips slanted against hers or the way his hands roamed her body. He just knew exactly what to do to her to make her lose her mind.

His lips left hers and he made his way down her neck, leaving a trail of scorching hot kisses as he did. She laced her arms around his neck and twisted her fingers in his hair, sighing as he kissed her.

Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't so suspicious of her anymore or maybe it was the revelation that they were more connected than either of them thought, but his touches were softer than before. Every gesture was deliberate and gentle, rather than rushed and desperate.

She was thinking too much. She was making things more complicated than they were.

Nothing had changed.

Things between them were still casual and strictly physical. It was why things were so great. There were no emotions there. It was just sex.

But that was before guilt starting coiling in her gut.

Hana didn't know her godfather at all. She was just a little girl when he was still alive and in her life. But the thought of using his son for information? The thought of doing something so awful to Kagami's only child to get a story?

She'd done worse things for a story, that was undeniable.

But she'd never done anything that bad to someone she knew well. And sure, maybe she didn't know Shisui that well, but by all accounts, _she should have_.

She should have grown up knowing him. She should have grown up friends with the curly-haired boy. They should have grown up side by side.

But they didn't. They grew up strangers, not even knowing the other existed. And then after years of not knowing of the other, they meet in a bar and she starts using him to try and further her own career.

It was too much and she was fairly certain her heart was going to explode.

And Shisui noticed.

"Whoa, you okay?" he asked. His hands came up to cradle her face and his eyes searched hers. "Your pulse is insane right now."

Goddamnit. He just had to be kissing her neck in the middle of her internal panic attack, didn't he?

His hands left her face and he gently picked up her wrist and pressed two fingers to her pulse point there.

"I'm fine," she said.

He frowned. "You're freaking out."

"I am not," she said, voice soft and weak.

"Hana," he pressed. "I can literally feel you freaking out right now."

Yeah… He could and she needed that to come to an end, so she carefully pulled her wrist away from his hold and placed her hands on the wide planes of his chest, holding back a sigh of relief when his arms snaked back around her waist.

"I can leave if you want," he offered. "If you're that weirded out by everything then I can go."

He was truly earnest in his words, even if his eyebrows knit together in a way that made it look like he felt guilty for some reason, and Hana was suddenly overcome with the urge to come clean to him about everything.

How was she supposed to lie to him when he was looking at her like that?

"It's not that. I'm just thinking too much," she said.

"Yeah? About what?"

Oh man, she was fucked. He needed to stop looking at her with those big, dark, puppy dog eyes.

Her phone vibrated from the side table and she huffed.

If she wanted, she could be spared from having to answer Shisui's question if she grabbed her phone, but she wasn't sure if she wanted that or not.

"You gonna get that?" he asked with a little smirk on his face.

She seriously considered it, but then she chuckled under her breath and shook her head.

"I don't think so," she said.

He seemed to like that, as his arms tightened just a little bit around her waist and his smirk carefully grew into a small smile.

"Does that mean you're gonna tell me what the problem is then?"

"There's no problem. I'm just overthinking everything because that's what I do. So—"

Her phone buzzed again and she narrowed her eyes, deciding to quickly reach over to the side table and see who was calling her.

Just an unknown number.

She ignored it and looked back at Shisui. His eyes carefully regarded her, but not in a scrutinizing way like before. They just seemed to take in her every movement and little expression for what they were, and not as a way to find any ulterior motives.

"Do you need a distraction then?" He gave her that easy grin that seemed so effortless for him and her face flushed as she looked down to hide her smile.

"There must be a lot going on in that pretty head of yours if _that_ dumb little comment made you blush. Usually, I gotta work a little harder than that," he remarked, still grinning with ease.

"Well if you must know then—"

Her phone vibrated again, only once this time, and she narrowed her eyes. It must have been Kin and those guys since they apparently used burners, she just didn't get why they were so eager to get in contact with her. It wasn't like a body just turned up or anything, so what was going on?

"Sorry," Hana muttered. She plucked her phone up one last time and saw a text from the same unknown number from before, opening it with an annoyed exhale.

'_Hey Freckles. Look outside.'_

She stared at the text for a beat too long, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the screen of her phone, hair standing up on the back of her neck.

"What's that look for?" Shisui asked casually.

"…I'm not sure," she murmured.

She carefully got off him and took light footsteps over to her sliding glass door and peeked outside.

The view from her little balcony was that of the parking lot and one of the walking paths along the side of the complex. It wasn't anything spectacular and Hana was intimately familiar with the view (or lack thereof). There was the overflow parking lot directly straight ahead, a little field of grass for people to let their dogs out on, and the main walking path that was lit with only a handful of street lamps.

She looked outside for something out of the ordinary and came up empty handed at first. The moon was only a thin crescent in the sky and there were hardly any stars, so it was dark and it took her eyes quite a few moments to adjust.

What was she supposed to be seeing?

Unable to just leave it alone, Hana unlocked the door and pulled it open along with the screen and stepped outside in the hot summer air.

Then she saw it.

She wasn't sure what it was at first. A starving deer or a sick dog crumpled beneath one of the trees that sat adjacent to one of the street lamps? The darkness mixed with the shadows of the branches made it hard for her to even identify what it was.

But when her eyes were fully adjusted to what she was looking at and when she squinted in the distance, her brain put it together.

A body.

Hana let out a shriek, more from shock than from fear, and slapped her hands over her mouth.

"Hana? What is it?"

Shisui was at her side in an instant, no trace of humor or teasing in his voice. He took one look at her, probably read the horror on her face and immediately looked ahead to try and see what she saw.

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a moment to compose herself.

Then after a few quick breaths, she opened her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Beneath the tree," she muttered.

Shisui was silent for a brief moment and then he saw it.

"_Shit_."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**I'm planning on 2 updates this week! If all goes according to plan Chapter 11 will be out Wednesday or Thursday, and Chapter 12 will be out on the usual Sunday.**_

_**Thank you to my wonderful reviewers: MiyuKazu, **_**_Honestlyxx, and Kellie. Much love to y'all(:_**

**_Leave any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:_**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Banter banter banter. Dialogue is important and hard.**_

* * *

"It's gotta be the killer," one of the cops off to the side muttered.

Shisui rubbed the bottom of his chin and looked over at where CSI was doing their thing. Except for the tenants looking outside from their windows and balconies, there was a surprising amount of privacy.

Normally bystanders and onlookers crowded everything, but not tonight.

"So now the killer is comfortable dumping bodies anywhere then," another cop said back.

"It's not the killer," Shisui said finally. He heard enough of the officers around saying the same thing.

"Everything matches," one of the officers argued. "The victimology and the method are both the same. There's even that mark on his neck."

Shisui's eyes flitted over to the young man CSI was currently photographing and sighed, "the mark is on the right side of his neck. Not the left. It's not the killer."

That seemed to shut them up. Right on time too since Chief Shimura was currently stalking his way over to Shisui with Itachi at his side, eyes wide and pupils blown.

"Here we go," he muttered to himself.

"What the hell happened here?" Shimura demanded.

"Well it would seem that someone dumped a body here," Shisui retorted as he crossed his arms.

Shimura scowled and the corner of Itachi's mouth twitched, indicating that he wanted to smirk but was too well trained to do that in front of an angry Chief of Police. Shisui still caught it though and it was all he could do to not shoot his cousin a grin.

"And how, pray tell, did you stumble upon this without so much as a phone call from the station?"

"We already went over this, Chief Shimura," Shisui retorted, unable to help the glare that settled across his face. He wasn't sure why Shimura had it out for him but it was getting old.

"Yes, I suppose we have," Shimura muttered. "And where is this little friend of yours? I have a few questions for her."

A sudden, almost overwhelming, sense of protectiveness settled over him.

Shimura had absolutely no reason to talk to Hana. He had absolutely no reason at all to even be in the field. He was only there to give Shisui a hard time because apparently he hated his guts for some reason.

"She's talking to Ibiki right now," Shisui said.

And sure enough, Danzo looked around for Ibiki and found him, standing off to the side with Hana.

It turned out that they were also friends from high school, albeit they were more acquaintances than friends these days. But with that being said, Ibiki Morino didn't even look remotely surprised when he showed up and saw Hana.

He just gave a very heavy sigh and said an exasperated, _"why am I not surprised to see you of all people?"_

But now she was standing with him and recounting her side of the story. Shisui thought that she looked small next to him, which was the first time the thought crossed his mind. Hana was tall, maybe only an inch or so shorter than him and she had a confident and unapologetic air about her that made her seem almost untouchable.

But beside Ibiki Morino? She looked small.

And that only made him want to prevent Shimura from speaking to her even more.

"I'd like to question her myself," he snapped.

Shisui winced. He understood the sentiment. He already asked Hana a million questions himself and Ibiki was doing the same. But still. The farther away Danzo Shimura was from Hana Sarutobi, the better.

"There's no need for that," Shisui said as his jaw locked.

"And why is that?" Danzo pressed.

He was saved from having to answer by the good graces of Itachi.

"Chief Shimura," Itachi said, snatching his attention away. "CSI looks like they'd like to speak with you."

"I'll deal with you later," Danzo snarled. He stalked away from the two of them and Shisui exhaled in relief.

"How is she?" Itachi asked.

"Hana?" Shisui asked. His cousin nodded in response and Shisui shrugged. "She's pretty shaken up, but that's understandable considering everything."

"What exactly happened?"

Shisui rubbed the back of his neck and stole another look at where Hana stood with Ibiki. She looked uncomfortable, nervous even. She kept messing with her hair and shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

"I really don't know," Shisui admitted. "She got some phone calls from an unknown number and then a text telling her to look outside."

Itachi frowned and looked at the Sarutobi girl as well.

"That doesn't look great," he admitted.

"Trust me. I know," Shisui mumbled. Just when he thought he could stop being suspicious of her, this bullshit had to happen. Just when he thought he could finally ease off a bit, a body shows up at her place.

It didn't look good for her and she had to know that.

"You can never go for the nice girls, can you?" Itachi asked. Shisui looked back at his cousin to see the ghost of a smile on his face. And despite everything that just happened, Shisui actually chuckled.

"Hana is a nice a girl," he said. "I just think she has a habit of getting into trouble. She said Jiraiya taught her everything she knows about writing and we saw that he has a pretty bad track record with staying out of trouble. My guess is that he passed that on to his star pupil."

He wasn't sure why he felt the need to defend her, but he did.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He knew why.

She was a connection to his father and that carried more weight than it should have, Shisui knew that, but he couldn't help it. It was weird, how often they ran into each other. But now that he knew his dad was her godfather? The whole "universe making their paths cross" thing didn't seem so farfetched anymore.

"Hey 'Tachi—"

Shisui didn't get a chance to finish that sentence since Hana and Ibiki were walking over to them.

"I need to talk to you," Hana said to Shisui without so much as looking at either Itachi, Ibiki, or the scene around them.

Shisui's eyes flickered to Ibiki but he huffed and crossed his arms.

"She's a pain in the ass and insisted on it," he said.

Hana rolled her eyes at Ibiki's comment but didn't say anything in retaliation. She just pursed her lips into a thin line and waited for him.

"Okay," Shisui said. "Come on."

Without thinking better of it, he placed his hand on her lower back and ushered her away from the growing chaos surrounding them. Once they were out of earshot Hana wasted no time getting to the point.

"You gotta swear to hear me out before you start accusing me of things," she blurted, already nervously pushing her hair back from her face.

He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Hana—"

"I mean it," she said. Her hazel eyes met his dark ones and held them there, waiting for an answer.

He gave a reluctant head nod and sighed, "…okay. Let's hear it."

He watched as she bit down on the back of her bottom lip and huffed.

"Oh God," she muttered. She looked down at the ground and Shisui patiently waited for some sort of confession where she said that she was the serial killer or that it was her best friend or something equally outrageous.

"Okay, so I met some people not too long ago. They're the ones who texted me, I'm sure of it… And there's three of them and they're all super interested in the murders. Granted, everyone is, but they're _really_ interested," she started, eyes already getting wide as she rambled on. "I don't want to call them fanatics but that's what they are. They're fanatics."

"And how did you meet these people?" Shisui asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"Uh, well they kinda cornered me in Naka Park and—"

"Why would they corner you?" he pressed.

"That's not important," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "They're obsessed with the murders. Completely batshit insane about them. They know _everything_ about every single murder and practically worship the ground the killer walks on. I'm not surprised that they were the first ones to know about the body with the way they are."

Shisui crossed his arms. It wasn't unheard of for a serial killer to get a little bit of a cult following. That was actually pretty normal, especially for ones as localized as The Ryuchi Killings. That wasn't what bothered him.

What bothered him was the fact that Hana personally knew people that were likely involved.

"So why—"

"Why do I know them?" Hana asked. He nodded and her eyes flickered around for a moment, seemingly trying to find somewhere, anywhere to look that wasn't him. She then put her arms around her torso, almost as a way to shield herself and gave him a pathetic shoulder shrug.

"Hana?"

"I'm working on a special piece and they're one of my sources," she said, hanging her head in shame. "And I can't give you their names. I won't do it. A good writer never gives up her sources, but I can say with one-hundred percent certainty that they're the ones who texted me."

Shisui blinked in confusion and put a hand on her arm. "People are dying. If you know something—_anything,_ then you have a moral obligation to tell me."

She took in a deep breath, shoulders shuddering as she did, and looked him square in the eye.

"I can't do that, Shisui. If you have to bring me down to the station and hold me for questioning then do it, but I won't give up my sources. I didn't do it in Suna, I didn't do it in Ame, and I certainly won't do it Konoha."

That burning curiosity rippled through him again, wanting to know about those other stories of hers and wanting to know about the two scars on her back.

He had looked at Jiraiya's profile and had been both impressed and horrified at some of the things the man covered. And if Hana was his star pupil, then naturally she probably went to just as extreme lengths to cover something she believed in.

He just wondered how far she would go.

"What's the piece then?" he asked when she didn't look away.

"I can't tell you now, but I'll tell you when it's finished. I promise," she said, still holding eye contact in an earnest and hardheaded way that made him believe every single word she said. He should have known better, but there was just something in her eyes that made him trust her.

So, against his better judgment, he took her word for it.

"All right," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "What did you tell Ibiki?"

"Pretty much what I just told you, only with less detail." She paused and crossed her arms over her chest. "...I didn't know they knew where I lived."

Her mouth pursed into a thin line again and her brow furrowed. She didn't seem all that alarmed that they had her phone number, but she did seem alarmed that they had her home address.

He didn't like that either. Not one bit.

He nodded and said, "you should go inside. You've already given a statement and talked to both me and Ibiki. This could take a while, so try to get some sleep."

She started messing with her hair again, pushing it back as her hazel eyes flitted all around the scene surrounding them.

"What's wrong?" he asked right away when he noticed the nervous gesture.

"Nothing," she said. She crossed her arms tightly over herself and gave him a weak smile.

He held her gaze for a fraction of a second, reading every little expression on her face. For as confident and unapologetic as Hana Sarutobi held herself, he could see her beginning to crack. It was evident in the way she couldn't stop messing with her hair and the way her eyes were on constant alert.

"Do you want me to stay the night?" he asked, hoping that it would help her just relax for a moment.

It didn't.

Her eyes widened and they snapped back to his in an instant.

"Oh. Oh no. That's okay. I know you've got a lot to do and like you said this could take a while. My apartment is still hot and gross and you definitely shouldn't have to subject yourself to—what are you doing?"

In the midst of the rambling, he had reached out and taken gentle hold of her wrist, pressing his two fingers to her pulse point just as he had before.

He gave her a small smile. "You're freaking out again."

She blinked at him a few times and then let out a nervous laugh under her breath and rubbed her forehead.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

He could feel his smile growing and felt a surge of pride when she finally let loose enough to return his smile with a genuine one of her own.

"Go upstairs. I'll come up when I'm done down here, okay?"

She nodded, shoulders sagging a little in relief.

"Okay. Thanks," she said.

She turned away to disappear back inside the complex and Shisui returned to where Itachi was just hanging up his phone.

"Fugaku's not happy," he said with a frown. "Says we're taking too long. Can't say I disagree."

Shisui could share his sentiment and he huffed.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "Let's go down to the university first thing tomorrow and try and talk to Orochimaru. Between him and Yakushi, we have to find some sort of lead."

Itachi nodded and took one last look over his shoulder at where they were zipping up the victim in a body bag.

"You should leave while Shimura is still occupied. I don't have it in me to listen to him rant and rave at you," he said nonchalantly.

"He can bitch at me all he wants. It's not going to help with anything," Shisui retorted.

"Then if not for me, for Hana."

Shisui narrowed his eyes at his cousin, silently waiting for him to further elaborate on that.

"There's a group of fanatics that know both her cell phone number and where she lives. Throw her a bone and just stay the night here. I'm sure she would feel better knowing that she has an FBI agent with her in case anything else happens," Itachi said.

Shisui smirked at his cousin and nudged his shoulder with his own.

"Look at you being all thoughtful and concerned."

Itachi gave him a tired look. "It _is_ quite sad that I'm more concerned about your little friend than you are."

Shisui scoffed, "hey, I'll have you know that I already told her I would stay the night."

Itachi didn't look impressed and Shisui couldn't help but laugh.

"Not to get laid, Jerk," he said, bumping shoulders with Itachi one more time. "But since we're on the topic of Hana, I found out something really interesting tonight."

"What's that?" Itachi asked, still casual and appearing as uninterested as ever.

"Kagami was her godfather."

That got his attention. His eyes widened and he turned his body so he could face Shisui directly and waited for him to go on before asking any questions.

"Yeah," Shisui said. "She's got a photo in her living room of her as a kid with him. When I asked who he was she said it was her godfather."

Itachi was quiet for a moment. He always was whenever he found out something interesting like that and needed a moment to ponder it. He crossed his arms and his eyebrows knit together as he thought. Then finally after several long moments, he broke the silence.

"Then how have you two never met? And why didn't President Sarutobi say anything to you? I'm assuming he and your father were close friends if he chose to make Kagami his only daughter's godfather."

"Hana and I were wondering the same thing," Shisui admitted. He could feel his heart slam painfully against his ribcage. He could search through his childhood memories all he wanted, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find a single memory of a little girl with hazel eyes and freckles.

He could, however, find maybe one or two distant memories of a man his father's age with brown hair and black marks beneath his eyes, but he couldn't be sure if that was just a stranger or a younger Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Mm," Itachi hummed. "I don't know what to think of that."

"Neither do I."

"Well in any case, please leave before Shimura remembers his disdain for you," Itachi said. "I'll take it from here."

"You sure?" Shisui asked. He hated feeling he needed Itachi to cover for him, but to be honest, he really didn't want to deal with Danzo trying to throw him under the bus.

Itachi nodded and said, "let's be down at the school first thing in the morning."

"All right, thanks," Shisui said.

He made his way back inside the complex, hitting the buzzer so Hana would let him in. When he arrived at her individual apartment there was a second where he wondered if she was going to let him in or not, but then the door opened and any doubt he had disappeared. She just looked completely and utterly relieved to see him.

"You're done fast," she said, ushering him inside and immediately locking all four locks on her door. He thought that was odd, that she had so many when most apartments only had one or two.

"Itachi saved me from the Chief of Police, so I got to leave right away," he said easily. "You doing okay?"

Hana's fingers were in her hair yet again and she nodded. It actually made him wonder if the reason her hair was always so unruly was that she was constantly messing with it.

"Yeah, just fine," she said.

"Do you know that whenever you're nervous or uncomfortable you push your hair back like that?" he asked, cracking a grin and feeling way too self-satisfied with himself when her face flushed at his comment.

"I do?"

He grinned harder and reached forward, twisting a lock of her hair between his fingers and enjoying the way her cheeks reddened even more.

"Every time. It's kind of your MO," he teased.

She scoffed and swatted his hand away.

"Okay, Mr. FBI Agent—"

"Mr. FBI Agent who's here to protect you," he pushed, grinning ear to ear when she could not stop blushing.

"Nice to see that you're still extra as ever. Was that all it took? Seeing a dead body for you to lighten up?" she retorted.

She had a point. He definitely felt more like himself, and that was a good thing (albeit a little random) considering how off he'd been, but at this point, he would just take what he could get.

"It's either be extra or start interrogating you about those people who called you. So take your pick," he said with a shrug.

"Extra it is," she said with a smirk. "Anyway, I'm tired. So I'm gonna go to bed. You're more than welcome to join me, but if you'd rather not, you can sleep on the couch."

He blinked at her as the words sunk in. Then, without another thought, he let a soft laugh escape his lips.

"Hana," he started. "We've been having casual sex since we met and you seriously think I'm not going to share a bed with you?"

Shisui really had no intention of flustering her. He was just simply pointing out the obvious, but sure enough, she was flustered and her cheeks were turning a rosy shade of pink, and goddamnit she looked too fucking cute.

"Yeah, I'm an idiot," she said. She went to push her hair back, but her eyes caught the way he was starting to smirk at her, and then she thought better of it and put her hand back down at her side. "Stop looking at me like that."

"I'm not looking at you like anything," he said with a snicker.

She snorted but only shook her head and gestured for him to follow her into the bedroom.

It was cleaner than it was last time, albeit there was still random shit everywhere. Only where last time it was newspapers and notebooks and photographs, this time it seemed to strictly be newspapers.

He saw some from _The Byakugan Times_ and several from _The Konoha Post. _Then he noticed one on the nightstand that he didn't recognize, but when he got a better look at it he saw the front page had a story about the crisis in Iwa.

"Why do you have all of these?" He asked casually. "You can just get everything online."

Hana looked at him from where she stood in front of her closet, already taking her shirt off and slipping on an oversized t-shirt that engulfed her body and stopped at her upper thighs.

"I dunno. It's just nicer to have something to physically hold," she admitted. "Plus, it's cheaper to buy a paper than pay for an online subscription."

He guessed that made sense.

"Here," she said, tossing him a gray t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

He caught the clothes and raised an eyebrow.

"Genma's," she said, answering his unasked question. "He keeps some spare clothes here after a few too many drunken nights."

"Ah," he said.

"Jealous, Uchiha?"

He smirked and chuckled under his breath, watching as she sidestepped him to sit on the bed and grab the newspaper with the Iwa crisis. He noticed right away that she carefully avoided his eyes the entire time.

"Nope," he said. "Raido maybe, but not me."

She whacked him with the paper just as he was taking his jeans off.

"Spanking me now, Sarutobi?" he teased.

"We don't mention that particular subject matter," she said, blatantly ignoring his jest. He shook his head and didn't bother putting on the shirt considering how goddamn hot the apartment was, and lied down in the space beside her with an arm behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"So you're really not going to tell me anything about those people who texted you, huh?" he pressed after a comfortable silence settled over them.

"No," she said, not looking up from the article about the Iwa crisis. "I'm not."

"They were the first people to find the body—assuming they're not the ones who killed the guy."

"I already gave Ibiki the number and if I thought they killed that guy I would have told you," she said, still refusing to look at him.

"But they probably know who did."

She huffed and put the newspaper down. "I don't know. I don't even know their full names, and that's assuming the names they gave me were real and not fake."

He propped himself up on his elbow and craned his neck over his shoulder to see her biting down on her bottom lip and pushing her hair back from her face.

"Be honest with me," he started, trying to get her to look at him. "Do you think these people want to hurt you?"

Her hazel eyes flickered to his dark ones and held them there for a long moment, making him hold his breath without even meaning to.

"No, I really don't. I just think they're twisted and into weird shit. And even if I did think that, I still wouldn't tell you," she said without a shadow of a doubt.

He could feel himself deflate a little bit as she squared her shoulders. That familiar unapologetic look flitted across her pretty face and he just knew that no matter what questions he asked, no matter how hard he pressed her, she wouldn't change her mind.

"You make me feel insane," he groaned. He lied back down and looked at the ceiling, mind racing a mile a minute. If he could just at least get some sort of solid lead then maybe—

She turned the light off and lied down beside him.

"You're probably suspicious of me again," she said with a sigh.

"Can you blame me?" he said right away.

"Not really."

It was quiet again, only this time it was uncomfortable.

Shisui just wanted to know what the chances were that his one-night-stand would turn out to be someone _so_ connected to the case, be it directly or indirectly. He also wanted to know what the chances were of that same girl being someone who was a direct tie to his father.

He just had a million fucking questions about the girl beside him and none of them were getting answered and it was driving him insane.

"You can leave if you want," she said, voice softer and gentler than he had ever heard it before. "If you're that put off, then you can leave."

He considered it. He liked spending time with Hana and he didn't want her to be scared. But then again, she didn't seem too concerned about those people and she certainly wasn't going to crack and tell him who they were despite knowing that they could be a lead.

He was thinking too much.

He planned on getting up and leaving, but something tightened in his stomach that told him not to. Maybe it was respect for Hana's ability to stick to her guns about not giving up her sources, or maybe it was the fact that she knew his father. He wasn't sure. But whatever the tightness was, it convinced him to stay.

Letting out a deep breath, Shisui rolled onto his side, wrapped an arm around her, and thought _'fuck it'_.

"That's all right. I'm fine right here."

* * *

Hana was becoming used to Shisui's violent thrashing awake at ungodly hours in the morning, and it was to the point where she wasn't even surprised that she was jolted awake by him gasping for air and shoving himself into an upright position as he struggled to catch his breath.

She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and watched as he panted and hung his head between his still shuddering shoulders.

"Did someone try to drown you or something?" she asked off-handedly, rubbing her eyes.

"Huh?" he asked. He immediately looked down at her with pupil-blown eyes.

"I knew a woman in Ame who always woke up like that. Started happening after a solider tried to drown her in the stream," she said. She could still remember the woman who hosted her in those first few weeks. She would wake up from nightmares in an identical fashion and after three consecutive weeks of it, she came clean to Hana and told her about the incident.

Shisui rubbed his forehead.

"I'll tell you about my nightmares when you tell me about getting stabbed," he remarked under his breath.

Despite how exhausted she felt and how early it was, she laughed into her pillow. She then noticed Shisui giving her a tired smile as she laughed and her heart fluttered.

"Touché."

"So no heart-to-heart first thing in the morning?" he quipped. He lied back down and turned on his side so he faced her.

"I don't think so," she said as the corners of her lips curled upward into a shy smile.

"Too bad," he hummed. "Think how much better we'd get along if you didn't keep so many secrets from me."

"We get along fine," she said.

"Mhm. It would just probably be better if you weren't hiding murderers from me."

She groaned and he smirked at her in a way that made it hard to decipher if he was joking or not.

"Thanks to sheer, dumb luck, I became friends with the princess of Suna when I was over there. There was an assassination attempt and I decided to be a hero and got stabbed for it. There's your heart-to-heart," she said as nonchalantly as humanly possible. Enough time had passed since the event that she really didn't think it was a huge deal anymore, but she could understand how someone else might.

And if telling Shisui an abbreviated version of the story was enough to appease him, then she'd do it.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Well shit," he muttered. His smirk grew into a grin and Hana's stomach flipped. "That's kind of badass."

"Yeah? My dad said it was stupid."

"Oh, one-hundred percent."

She scoffed, "well what was I supposed to do? Just let my friend get killed? Fat chance."

Shisui let out a little breath that sounded almost wistful. He was quiet after that, very slowly getting up and slipping into his jeans without another word. Once he was back in his clothes, he looked over at her still in bed and she raised an eyebrow. Had she pissed him off or something? Out of every possible reason he had for being annoyed with her, it was the story of the princess that finally set him off?

But then he walked back over to the bed and leaned down so his face hovered directly above hers.

"He would have been proud to hear that," was all he said.

Then, so fast that she wasn't even sure it happened, he pecked her on the forehead and casually walked out of the bedroom.

It wasn't until she heard the front door click did she move and finally let out the breath she'd been holding.

Heaven help her because she was falling for him.

* * *

"I'm sorry that this happened, but this is what we call making the best out of an unfortunate situation. Just what are the odds of a dead body turning up at your place?" Mr. Hyuga said. He grinned (at least as much as he physically could) and gave Hana an approving nod.

"Mm. Better than you think," she muttered.

"You don't look very happy. Is there something I'm missing?" he asked.

"Oh no," she said right away with a shake of her head. "It was just scary."

Those piercing light gray eyes bore right into her and she swallowed.

"The girl who spent months as a prisoner in Ame was scared by a body showing up at her apartment complex?" he asked, dry as ever.

"It was alarming," Hana said. She tried to straighten her shoulders and look him square in the eye, but it was infinitely harder than it should have been with the way he stared her down.

"I see," he said. He finally took his gaze off of her and she sighed in relief. "Well, this is a good article. Short but to the point and I think our readers will like that. Besides, our competitors are only just now finding out about the body. Consider me impressed."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Certainly," he said, already waving his hand and shooing her out of the office. "Oh, and Sarutobi? Don't forget that you have the Senju wedding to cover this weekend."

Hana, who had been mid-step on her way to the door, faltered (almost tripping in the process) and turned around in shock.

"The Senju wedding? You still expect me to cover that?" she blurted before she could think better of it.

Mr. Hyuga actually looked _bored_ when he regarded her.

"That's right. Who else has a personal invitation from the bride herself? No one."

She stared at him, all too aware of the way her lips parted and the way she probably looked like a gaping fish.

"But—"

"You thought that since you were covering The Ryuchi Killings that you'd be off it? No. You've been personally invited to Tsunade Senju's wedding and I expect you to be there. I don't know any other writers who have been invited to it, do you?" The sarcasm just dripped off of his words and it was all Hana could do to stand there and stare.

"Mr. Hyuga—"

"Complain all you want. I won't change my mind," he deadpanned.

She wanted to argue and insist that she wasn't going to write about the stupid wedding, but he was right. He wouldn't change his mind, no matter how much she begged.

"Understood," she murmured.

Hana left his office and made her way over to her cubicle, head still spinning with far too many thoughts. She was so lost in her own mind that she didn't even register Genma's words when she sat down and gave her laptop a blank stare.

"Hey! Sarutobi!" Genma finally said after he threw a balled-up piece of paper at her.

She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Mr. Hyuga is actually happy with you for once. You should be on cloud nine," he said, rolling his chair over to her cubicle so he sat next to her. She noticed that he seemed to be in a better mood than usual, but couldn't find the strength to ask him why.

"Uh well, there's a lot wrong with me at the moment. There's the body showing up at my place, those fanatics knowing where I live, Mr. Hyuga making me still cover Tsunade's wedding, oh and then there's also the little fact that my godfather was Shisui's dad."

She could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed and Genma gawked at her, opening his mouth to say something but then promptly closing it when he couldn't find the right words.

Finally, he settled for a very, _very_ confused, "what?"

"Yep," she said. She looked him dead in the eye and asked an almost desperate, "what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Uh, not use him?" Genma offered as he cocked his head to the side.

"Don't you think I know that?" she pretty much shrieked, earning quite a few stares from her fellow coworkers. "This is my worst nightmare! I'm supposed to be stone cold when it comes to this sort of shit but not now! I can't use Kagami's son! I've done some awful shit in the past for a story but I would never do anything like this to my own godfather's child!"

Genma very carefully backed away from her and kept his mouth shut as she proceeded to whisper/scream at him.

"What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like a monster! What is this thing I'm feeling? Is this guilt? Is this what guilt feels like? How do people function feeling like this?"

Hana had done awful things for a story before. She had lied and stolen and cheated her way to the right sources. She had thrown people she cared about under the bus. She had thrown herself under the bus. She had done whatever she had to do to get the story, even if it meant breaking the law and ruining relationships. And under any other circumstances, she wouldn't have cared. But this?

It was all coming out now and she couldn't stop it no matter how much she wanted to. Just thinking about everything was enough to drive her absolutely mental. Her heart was _slamming_ against her ribcage, her throat might as well have been permanently trapped in the back of her throat, and her stomach was doing all sorts of flips and flutters and she was _over it_.

Genma cleared his throat as his eyes shifted around to the coworkers that were trying to simultaneously ignore and eavesdrop on them.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's way too late to give the story back to Yamato," Genma said.

She didn't think. She just reacted by reaching forward and smacking him hard on the arm.

"Hey!"

"I would rather die than give the story back to him," she deadpanned, holding his gaze and glaring daggers at him.

Genma snorted, "well you're gonna feel like shit until you come clean to Shisui."

"When the hell am I supposed to do that? I don't want… I can't… I don't want him to…" Her tongue got all sorts of twisted and she pretty much whimpered and buried her face in her hands, hoping to at least smother some of the mounting frustration.

In the midst of her goddamn breakdown, she could hear the distinctive sound of Genma snickering. And it wasn't his usual snicker either. It was the _'haha if you only knew the bullshit that you were getting yourself into'_ snicker that she spent her whole life hearing. Sometimes it was directed at Raido, other times it was directed at Aoba or even Ebisu, but this time it was directed at no one else but her.

"Hana Sarutobi, do you have feelings for the fed you're using for information?"

She gasped and pulled her hands away from her face, "don't you dare, Shiranui!"

He didn't even bother trying to stifle that godforsaken snickering as he fiddled with the toothpick in his mouth.

"Here's a thought. Why don't you just bring him to the wedding and tell him after?"

She blinked once. Twice. Three. Four times.

What the hell kind of bullshit was that?

"Excuse me?" she finally hissed.

"You need a date and clearly need to confess your sins, so—"

"I don't need a date! You're always my date to these events!" she insisted, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to throttle her friend.

"Not this weekend," he said with a smirk. "Raido and I are going—"

"Oh my God, you two need to get married already," she groaned. She rubbed her temples and tried to dispel her growing headache. The universe was just out to get her and that was her only explanation for any of the bullshit that was happening.

Genma frowned and rubbed the back of his head as he looked to the side.

She caught that gesture as soon as it happened and narrowed her eyes. She intended on interrogating him to high heaven because there was an embarrassed, flustered look on his face, but he cut her off before she could even begin.

"Listen, just ask Shisui to be your date. You'll have a great time, he'll be all warmed up to you, and then just when you get back home you can confess to all your dirty little sins."

She glowered and crossed her arms.

"I hate you."

"I also hate me," he said with an all too satisfied grin when her eyes practically rolled into the back of her head.

But then she sighed and put her hand in her hair, pushing it back from her face.

Almost immediately, she mentally chided herself for doing that, picturing Shisui giving her that all too bright grin as he pointed out her nervous habit.

"…You think that'll work?" she asked under her breath.

"What? Telling him that you've been using him after a wedding?" he asked. "I don't think there's a good way to tell someone you've been using them, but that's probably the best you can do. With any luck, he'll be in a better mood after."

Against her better judgment, she pushed her unruly hair away from her face and fought back the urge to huff and puff like a child.

"I just don't want him to hate me. He has every reason to but I really don't want that. If he could just give me a chance and hear me out then maybe—why are you staring at me like that?" she asked when she noticed Genma's eyebrows both arching high onto his forehead as she spoke.

"Wow," he hummed. "I just can't remember the last time you had a crush. It's like we're back in high school."

"Hate you," she snapped, swiveling around in her computer chair so she was back to glaring at her laptop instead of her friend.

Genma laughed and patted her on the shoulder before he left her cubicle for his own.

She buried her face in her hands yet again, trying to figure out how exactly she would ask him to the wedding and how she would come clean to him (assuming he even agreed to be her date).

If he did agree to go with her then she would tell him. She had to. She owed Kagami that much—to at least be honest with his son.

She just had to work up the nerve to do it.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**I know back in Chapter 2 I originally referenced Hashirama's **_**_wedding. I went back and changed it a few weeks ago._**

**_I did not get this chapter out early like I wanted to. It gave me trouble. _**_**¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**_

**_Thank you thank you thank you MiyuKazu, __Honestlyxx, evabrennan, and Kellie__ for all the super sweet reviews on the last chapter! I am forever grateful. (I am also sorry if this chapter sucked, it gave me the hardest time)_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Customary reminder that I do not work in law enforcement.**_

* * *

Sasuke busied himself with cleaning off some equipment. He currently had a break in his schedule and chose to spend it in Orochimaru's lab with the professor himself as well as Tayuya. The rest of the research assistants weren't around, so it was quieter, and Sasuke really appreciated that. It was just too exhausting being around all four of them at the same time.

He was completely blown away by Orochimaru's research and the Zetsu cells. He wanted to know everything about them. How they worked, the limit of their regenerative abilities, how to make them multiply. He was completely enamored.

If they could figure out a way to make the cells work with blood still in the body, then they could change the entire scope of the medical field for generations to come.

And to think, President Sarutobi was about to cut their research funding because he was too stupid to come down and try to understand what Orochimaru was working on.

What an absolute _waste_.

"What did that beaker ever do to you?" Tayuya quipped, walking over to where he stood at the sink.

He didn't even realize how aggressively he'd been cleaning out the beaker until the pink haired girl interrupted his train of thought.

"Shut up," Sasuke grunted. Of all the research assistants, Tayuya annoyed him the most. She was just so loud and pushy and goddam irritating. He already had enough of that thanks to Naruto and Sakura. He didn't need another obnoxious person being up his ass all the time.

Not long after the words left his mouth did he hear the door to the lab open. Sasuke just looked back down at the sink, ignoring it entirely. It was probably Kidomaru or Sakon coming to butt in.

"Can I help you, Gentlemen?" Orochimaru greeted.

Sasuke frowned and put the beaker down to dry. Definitely wasn't Kidomaru, Sakon, or even Jirobo. He looked over his shoulder to see who Orochimaru was talking to, almost expecting it to be President Sarutobi or someone else in administration, but instead was greeted with the sight of Itachi and Shisui?

They were both wearing dark jeans and tucked in polo shirts. But that wasn't what unnerved Sasuke. It was the fact that they were both wearing their nylon blue FBI jackets.

Not a good sign.

"Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi's eyes were on Sasuke in an instant and that unmistakable look of concern washed over his older brother's face. His eyebrows knitted together and worry lines creased his forehead.

"Sasuke?"

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked. Shouldn't his brother and Shisui be busy trying to find out who the killer was and not at the school for fuck knows what reason?

"Uh, what are _you_ doing here?" Shisui asked right back.

Sasuke could feel his eye twitch.

"Didn't I already tell you that I was working as a research assistant this semester?" he asked, already annoyed.

An unreadable look passed over his cousin's face. Sasuke usually could read Shisui like an open book, at least that's what he liked to think. But every now and then, Shisui would carefully mask his expression in a way that made Sasuke doubt that even Itachi could read what he was thinking.

"We'll discuss this later, Sasuke," Itachi said, though that concerned look never left his face.

"Pardon me, but who are you?" Orochimaru cut in.

Sasuke bristled, feeling some type of way after practically being scolded in front of Tayuya and Orochimaru by his big brother. What the hell was Itachi thinking? Better yet, what the hell were they even doing there?

"We're with the FBI," Shisui said. He didn't spare another glance at Sasuke and instead busied himself with producing his badge and quickly flashing it at Orochimaru. "I'm Shisui and this is Itachi. We'd like to ask you some questions."

Orochimaru raised one eyebrow above the other.

"Unfortunately, I have class in about twenty minutes and need to finish cleaning up the lab. Can this wait for another time?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Orochimaru wasn't usually the one to clean up the lab, and why would he? He had five research assistants for that.

Sasuke risked a look at Tayuya and caught her glaring absolute daggers at Shisui and Itachi. She didn't even try to mask the disgust on her face, evident by the curling of her lip and the flaring of her nostrils.

"Unfortunately, it can't," Shisui said.

For someone who came from an FBI family, Sasuke had never been privy to watching his father, brother, or cousin work. And to be quite honest, he never really cared to see it. But with that being said, seeing Shisui without his trademark grin and easygoing nature was a little off-putting. He had no smiles for Orochimaru, only a cold, Uchiha stare.

Orochimaru gave a tired sigh in response.

"We'll clean up, Professor," Tayuya said, already gathering materials from where Orochimaru had been working.

"Thank you," he said.

"Do you have an office we can go to? It would be better to ask you these questions in private," Itachi suggested. He sounded calmer than Shisui, which wasn't all that surprising, but it still made Sasuke uneasy for some reason.

"I do, but it's on the other side of the building. Any questions you have will have to be asked here," Orochimaru said.

All it took was one look from Tayuya to remind Sasuke that he needed to hurry it up and start cleaning. So he begrudgingly followed suit and stood at the sink, straining his ears to try and listen to what was going on.

"I don't think that's wise with who all is present," Itachi said. There was a hint of that nervous concern in his voice.

"Unfortunately, Gentlemen, since you need to speak with me now, there isn't time to go to my office or for me to clean up. So you'll have to make do with Tayuya and Sasuke."

Sasuke could hear the hesitation from both of his family members. It lasted a beat too long and was finally broken with a frustrated huff that likely belonged to Shisui, though he couldn't be sure since his back was turned.

"I really don't think—"

"Another time then?" Orochimaru said, cutting Shisui off.

Sasuke's jaw locked. He desperately wanted to just ask his brother what the hell he was doing, but didn't want to risk looking like a fool in front of Orochimaru.

"Fine," Shisui said. Sasuke could just imagine his cousin crossing his arms and getting all irritated. "We can do this now."

"Excellent. What can I help you with, Agents?"

"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us about this symbol," Shisui said.

Sasuke gritted his teeth together, trying to debate on cleaning up as quickly as possible or taking his sweet time. If he was fast he would be able to turn around and see what was going on, but then Itachi would probably tell him to leave. But if he took his time, then he could listen as much as he wanted, despite not being able to see anything.

He looked at Tayuya through the corner of his eye. She was at the sink on his left and seemed to be going with the latter. She just barely had the water running too, as so not to drown out the sounds of their conversation, and seemed to be holding her breath, as if that would help her hear better.

"Ah. The three tomoe," Orochimaru started. "That particular symbol is the Cursed Seal of Heaven. It's a personal favorite of mine, that and the Cursed Seal of Earth. They're ancient symbols that go back at least one millennium, though I wouldn't be surprised if they go further back than that. They used to be very common in pagan rituals. They represent the divine relationship between heaven, or a sort of nirvana, and earth."

Orochimaru's voice was calm and relaxed despite Sasuke being able to feel the growing tension in the room.

"Mm," Shisui hummed. "You stamp all your research with it, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. It's a bit of a game among the assistants. They like to try and find where I've hidden it in my latest publications."

Seriously? That's why his brother and Shisui came to the school? To ask Orochimaru about something that just about every single student of his knew about?

"Were you aware that every single victim of the Ryuchi Killings has been found with this mark on their neck?" Shisui deadpanned.

It was silent. Except for the running faucets that Sasuke and Tayuya were at, you couldn't hear a damn thing.

"No," Orochimaru finally said. "I wasn't."

"Really?" Shisui pressed. There was an edge to his voice, an edge that was completely foreign to Sasuke. He didn't know Shisui had that sort of thing in him.

"Your former research assistant, Kabuto Yakushi, knew all about it," Itachi said. He was more relaxed and Itachi's easy tone blunted the sharpness of Shisui's. "Wasn't surprised in the slightest when we spoke with him. He suggested we come speak with you instead."

Tayuya suddenly slammed the beaker she was cleaning down on the counter and whipped around in a sudden fury.

"Kabuto is a goddamn idiot!" she snarled. "He's the reason we've been under a microscope this past year! Before you go accusing Orochimaru of _anything_, I suggest you take a closer look at that freak!"

Sasuke took the opportunity to turn around, just in time to see everyone's reactions. Orochimaru's face was unreadable, Itachi's was surprised, and Shisui… Shisui smirked and plunged his hands into his pockets, cocking his head to the side.

"Touchy subject?" he asked, eyes sparkling with an undeniable, almost malicious sort of teasing.

Tayuya's hands clenched into fists at her side and Sasuke stiffened.

What the hell was going on?

"He single-handedly destroyed all of our credibility with the school and President Sarutobi. He's so unstable that he's not even allowed to be in labs anymore! And thanks to him, we're about to lose all of our funding because he thought it would be a good idea to—"

"Tayuya, please excuse yourself," Orochimaru said suddenly.

Tayuya stopped, cheeks flushed and eyes glassy. She didn't say anything after that. She just snatched her messenger bag from one of the lab tables and stormed off, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Well then," Shisui remarked. He looked back at Orochimaru, still wearing that unnerving smirk. "Sounds like there's a story there."

Orochimaru frowned, lines deepening around his mouth.

"Tayuya is the brash one of the group," Orochimaru said. "Just about all of my research assistants are still deeply hurt by what happened with Kabuto."

This was the first time Sasuke had heard of this Kabuto person and the first time he had seen Tayuya so visibly upset. He stood there, lingering by the sinks, unsure of what to do.

Orochimaru seemed to recognize that right away and directed his attention to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, would you please email the class and let them know that something has come up last minute and that I will not be in attendance today? Also, please let them know that they're welcome to submit their assignments this Friday instead of today due to the circumstances."

There was his cue.

Sasuke could have argued and said that he needed to finish cleaning up, but he could just tell by the tension in Orochimaru's shoulders that he was not in the mood for arguments.

"Will do, Professor," Sasuke muttered.

He gave Itachi one last lingering look before gathering his things and exiting the lab.

Maybe it was time to finally accept that offer to get drinks with the other research assistants.

* * *

Yumi checked her phone as she stood in the elevator, reviewing an email from Miss Terumi with instructions regarding her meeting with Hiashi Hyuga. The owner of _Byakugan Times_ was having some financial difficulty (not surprising considering the state of the newspaper industry) and reached out to his old friend, Mei Terumi, for guidance.

Miss Terumi, who was currently out sick with the flu, (Yumi was fairly certain it was just the "bottle flu" after too many drinks with Ao, but who was she to judge?) instructed Yumi to go to the meeting in her wake.

Yumi liked the fact that Miss Terumi trusted her enough with the task. Her boss told her time and time again that she was her best employee. Hell, there were even times that Miss Terumi made it painfully clear that she wanted to pass the business onto Yumi when she was ready to retire.

So despite Yumi's ever growing workload, she accepted the task with a smile on her face.

Ambition was a powerful thing after all.

When the elevator reached the third floor, she followed the signs that led her to the main office. _Byakugan Times_ rented out the entire floor and knocked down all the walls between the suites for more office space, but there was still only one way in, so Yumi had to follow the signs that led her in a sort of zigzag to the office.

She walked in expecting to be greeted with a receptionist but came up empty-handed.

There was a tiny desk right in front of the door, but it was off to the side and currently unoccupied. There weren't even any chairs for someone to sit in while they waited.

She narrowed her eyes and looked around. The reception area (if you could even call it that) was relatively small and wasn't very welcoming (as if the lack of chairs didn't suggest that enough). There was no art on the walls, no warm colors, not even a water cooler.

It was almost completely bare, taking minimalism to a new level.

She wasn't sure how long she had been standing at the desk, but eventually, a girl walked into the reception area, went right behind the desk, and started sifting through documents in one of the bottom drawers.

Yumi cleared her throat, waiting for some sort of acknowledgment, but it didn't come.

The girl just continued to rummage through the drawers.

Could she be a little ruder?

"Excuse me, Receptionist?" Yumi said when her patience began to run out. "I'm here for a one o'clock meeting with Mr. Hiashi Hyuga."

The girl stopped and straightened up from where she was hunched over the drawer and stared Yumi down.

She was tall, almost embarrassingly so. The girl had to be at least six-foot, if not then maybe an inch or so taller, and she stared Yumi down with hazel eyes that were unequivocally offended.

"I'm sorry?" she said.

Yumi could feel her cheeks flush.

"I'm here for a one o'clock meeting with Mr. Hiashi Hyuga," she reiterated.

"I heard that," the girl said, putting her hand in her light brown hair and pushing it away from her face that was littered with freckles. "I'm not a receptionist. I'm a writer."

Yumi bit the tip of her tongue to stop the snarky remark from slipping past her lips.

The girl didn't look like much of a writer. All the journalists Yumi had ever known wore dress pants, skirts, or blouses to work. This girl walked around with a mop of wavy hair that was an absolute mess, as if she had been standing outside during a windstorm, and wore a pair of faded jeans and close fitted t-shirt.

How the hell was Yumi supposed to know she was a writer?

"Well, I apologize for that, but you were at the desk and no one else was here," she said with a tight smile.

The girl didn't return the smile. She just stared her down, as if waiting for an apology.

She certainly wasn't going to get one. It wasn't Yumi's fault the girl didn't have a shred of professionalism or tact.

"My name is Yumi," she said, choosing to be the bigger person and holding out her hand. "I'm from Terumi Wealth Management."

She took it with a handshake that was too strong to be ladylike.

"Hana," she said. Then out of nowhere, her hazel eyes twinkled. "Terumi Wealth Management, eh? That's where the feds were."

Yumi pursed her lips tighter together.

"Yes. I guess news travels fast in our little building," she said as she smoothed down her dress.

"No. I'm just friends with one of the officers who went there," Hana said with a smirk. She certainly struck Yumi as the type of girl who was used to knowing everyone's secrets, but then again, maybe that was just a journalist thing. Her roommate in college had been like that too.

"Mhm," Yumi hummed, still wearing that tight smile.

"What were they there for if you don't mind me asking?" Hana asked easily as she leaned down to start logging onto the computer at the desk. At least, that's what it looked like she was doing, or rather, it was what Yumi _hoped_ the girl was doing.

"I'm not sure. They came by and spoke with our office manager then left. I missed the whole charade and thank goodness for that. I dodged a bullet with that one."

"Mr. Hyuga will be out in a minute," Hana said after typing away on the computer. She then turned the screen off and turned her full attention back to Yumi. "Cops make you nervous or something?"

Yumi sighed. She really didn't want to have small talk with a nosy journalist, but she certainly couldn't be rude. Clearly, Hiashi Hyuga saw something in the girl if he let her work at his firm dressed like that. If Yumi was rude to her and it got back to Miss Terumi, she would never hear the end of it.

"No," she said. "I dated one of the feds who came by and he hates my guts. So like I said, I dodged a bullet."

It was like someone flipped a switch because suddenly Hana's hazel eyes no longer had a hard glint to them but rather something soft and confused.

"You dated one of the feds?"

"Yes," Yumi said.

Where the hell was Mr. Hyuga?

"It wasn't… You um… You didn't happen to date Itachi, did you?" she asked, newfound insecurity warping her features.

Yumi stared up at her and blinked a few times.

"You know Itachi?" she asked.

Hana was quiet and only nodded her head. Her mouth was shut, eyes were curious and wide, and her hand was buried in her hair.

Yumi read the situation in an instant, waving her hand dismissively and giving Hana an easy laugh when it sank in.

What a small world they lived in.

"Oh," Yumi said, still smiling and finally relaxing a bit. "You must be dating him. Don't worry about it. I didn't date him. I dated his cousin Shisui for years. You probably met him if you're talking to Itachi. 'Tachi's a total sweetheart, isn't he?"

Hana didn't relax at all. If anything, she looked even tenser than before.

Yumi raised her eyebrows, slightly confused. She expected Hana to laugh in relief or something, not look like she was about to be sick?

"Right…" Hana murmured.

Yumi was an idiot.

All it took was for one look at the journalist, one _real_ look to figure it out. That's all it took to notice the way her eyes fell and the way her shoulders sorta slumped forward.

"Oh. Oh, you're not… It's _Shisui_ you're dating," Yumi stumbled out.

Hana's eyes flickered but she neither confirmed nor denied Yumi's words. Instead, she just ran her fingers through her hair again and shuffled some of the papers she had pulled out from the bottom drawer.

"I wasn't implying anything," Yumi said right away. Why did she feel like she needed to go on damage control? "It's just that Shisui doesn't normally date girls like you."

Shit. Wrong thing to say. _Total_ wrong thing to say.

"Excuse me?"

"That came out wrong," Yumi tried. She could feel her pulse quicken as if she had been at the gym, hurrying to try and correct her mistake. "I didn't mean anything by that. He just has a type and—"

"And _I'm_ not his type because _you're_ his type," Hana said.

The journalist placed her hand on her hip and gave Yumi an unimpressed stare.

"I honestly did not mean anything by that."

There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that Hana believed her, and honestly? Yumi wasn't quite sure if she believed herself. She didn't think she meant anything by it, but at the same time, she didn't think she was wrong for saying it?

Shisui liked bombshells. He liked small girls who were petite with killer curves. He liked girls who had their shit together. But most of all, he liked girls with _ambition_.

What kind of ambition could a girl who wore jeans and a t-shirt to work even have?

Plus, there was the fact that she was so tall! She was probably as tall as Shisui! For as long as Yumi had known Shisui Uchiha (which had been years, thank you very much) he always had a thing for short girls.

And height aside, Hana didn't have the killer curves that guys like Shisui liked. She was pretty flat-chested, didn't have much of an ass, and just looked like a goddamn half thrown together _mess_.

Again. Not Shisui's type at all.

She must have been his rebound girl. He probably felt like he had to go for the complete and total opposite of Yumi and was just using the journalist for sex.

As someone who had been there once before, Yumi didn't want Hana to go through that. She may not have appreciated the girl's attitude, but there was no reason to let her go on thinking that she actually had a chance with Shisui.

Better to hear it from another woman than getting ghosted by a man.

"Hana, listen," Yumi tried. "I'm not saying this to be a bitch. I'm saying this woman-to-woman to help you out."

Hana most certainly did not want to hear it, but she crossed her arms over her chest and listened anyway.

"Shisui is a sweetheart. When he meets someone he really likes and has a connection with, he completely falls for them. He's a total dream to be with. He gets stars in his eyes and just throws himself entirely into the relationship. There's no turning back for him. It's all or nothing."

"But?" Hana snorted.

"But when he's hurt or heartbroken—which is my fault and I'll own that—he does a complete one-eighty. He turns into a dog who goes around and sleeps with any girl who looks his way. Save yourself the heartbreak and move on. There's nothing there other than physical interest," Yumi said. She sort of doubted the physical interest part too since she knew Shisui's type, but there was no point in being so brutally honest that the girl didn't even hear her out.

"Right," Hana mumbled. "Mr. Hyuga will be right out."

She didn't say anything after that. She just walked away, absolutely fuming.

Yumi sighed and looked at the email on her phone again, distracting herself with tax shelters and rollovers.

So much for trying to help.

* * *

"Let's hear it, Hayate," Shisui said, putting his phone on speaker as he drove both him and Itachi to the courthouse.

"It's been pretty much scrubbed from the records, but here's what I got," Hayate said, pausing to cough. "It's commonly referred to as the Manda Incident. Kabuto Yakushi was working under Orochimaru, professor of biochemistry and biology at the University of Konoha. During this time he was the only research assistant working for compensation, as Anko Mitarashi left for unknown reasons. He worked alongside four other assistants: Tayuya, Jirobo, Kidomaru, and Sakon."

Another pause for Hayate to cough.

"There's not a whole lot of information here, but the records say that around eleven-fifteen on the night of October 5th, Kabuto Yakushi was alone in Orochimaru's lab, working on the professor's research that revolved around regenerative cells that were dubbed Zetsu cells. In an attempt to further the research, Kabuto experimented on Orochimaru's pet cobra named Manda.

"He restrained the snake and made a single incision along its entire underbelly, but not deep enough to kill it right away. Says he experimented with the cells to see if they would heal the wound… Doesn't say why he decided to do this with Orochimaru's pet snake of all things."

Shisui grimaced and waited for Hayate to continue as he skimmed through more of the report.

"Apparently, the cells worked and they began to heal the incision. However, a guard on the night shift was patrolling the building and noticed someone in the lab. He used a master key to get in. This startled Yakushi so much that when he jumped in surprise, he accidentally knocked the tray with the restrained snake to the floor. The report doesn't specify why, but the fall killed the snake and reversed all the original healing of the Zetsu cells.

"In a fit of blind rage, Yakushi attacked the guard with a scalpel. The man fell and hit his head on a lab table and was knocked unconscious. Says that Yakushi then attempted to see if the Zetsu cells would repair several of the wounds he inflicted on the guard with the scalpel."

"Let me guess, it didn't work," Shisui mumbled.

"No," Hayate confirmed. "It didn't, but at least the guy didn't die. Yakushi didn't even flee the scene. He stayed there until another guard came by. Called the cops and Yakushi confessed to everything. The report says he did time in a psychiatric facility and his psychiatrist identified lab work as a trigger for him and he's been barred from ever working in labs again."

"Did the guard or Orochimaru ever press charges?" Itachi asked.

"The guard did but dropped them after the guy was shut away in the unit. Orochimaru did not."

"Between that, the evidence Raido found, and our conversation with Orochimaru earlier, we should be able to get a search warrant without a problem," Shisui said.

Itachi nodded in agreement.

He had been quiet ever since leaving the school. Shisui knew it was because Itachi worried about Sasuke, but there wasn't much he could do to ease his cousin's worries. Smack dab in the middle of the serial killer case was Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi, and Sasuke was currently spending most of his free time with the former.

It was a miracle Itachi didn't call Fugaku and beg him to tell Sasuke to drop the assistantship.

"That evidence Raido found was only relevant to the murder from last night though. It isn't directly tied to the Ryuchi Killings," Hayate pointed out from the other end of the phone.

He was right, but it was something physical and Shisui would take what he could get since their entire case so far had been purely circumstantial.

"No, but it points us to Yakushi and I'm willing to bet he's more involved than he lets on," Shisui said.

Raido called them on their way to the school that morning to say that they found DNA evidence on the body and that when they ran it through the system it came back as Kabuto Yakushi's.

That was how they found out about the guy having a record which led them to where they currently were, driving down to the courthouse to get a search warrant to check Kabuto's residence and car for evidence.

"Fair enough. Let me know if you need anything else," Hayate said.

"Will do. Thanks, Hayate," Itachi said.

They hung up and Shisui slowed down as he drove around, looking for a parking spot. Finally, there was something for them to go off of. Thank fuck they had a solid lead.

And thank fuck Hana wasn't involved for once.

* * *

"Am I really that unattractive?" Hana asked Genma the second he came out of his meeting. Genma didn't even get the chance to sit down before she fired her question at him, and he just stared at her.

"What?"

"Am I really that unattractive?" She repeated, puffing out her lower lip without even realizing it.

"The hell are you talking about?" Genma asked with a sigh. He sank into his chair and rubbed his temples. Obviously, his meeting hadn't gone well.

"Just answer the question!"

"For fuck's sake," he groaned. "No! You're not a goddamn lingerie model but you're not Leatherface either."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "I'm not a lingerie model but I'm not Leatherface? Is that supposed to make me _not_ feel like an ugly hag?"

Genma's eyes were clearer than the blue skies of Suna and he glared hard at her. Hard enough in fact that it made her second guess her own self-doubt and give him a sheepish grin.

"You've got long legs, a killer smile, and very pretty eyes, _Leatherface_. But no, you do not have a lingerie model's body. You're too skinny, so get over it. What the hell has gotten into you?"

She pouted but actually felt a swell of relief rush over her. At least she wasn't as horrible looking as she initially thought.

"This girl came over from Terumi Wealth Management and—"

"And you got self conscious?" Genma interrupted, still glowering at her. "Since when the hell have you ever been self conscious in your life?"

Never.

"It's not that," she said weakly.

"Then what is it?"

Hana sighed and shook her head.

"Nothing. You wouldn't understand," she said.

She felt like such a child, getting hung up on some chick's words only because she was Shisui's ex-girlfriend. Yumi even let some information slip out about why the feds were at the office in the first place. They came by to talk to the office manager, and that was something Hana should have been following up on to add to her story. She knew damn well _The Konoha Post_ didn't know about that lead.

But instead, all she could focus on was Yumi telling her that she wasn't Shisui's type and that he was only using her for sex.

Which yeah, may have been true, but it didn't have to hurt so much…

There was an exhausted sigh from Genma and Hana pulled her gaze away from the floor to see him watching her with a concerned expression, eyebrows furrowed and lips pulled into a frown.

"Just because some girl is a total knockout doesn't mean you're not."

She gave him a small smile, beyond grateful that he was trying.

"Look at Raido," Genma said with a casual shrug. "He's got those scars on his face and he's still handsome as shit. So why does it…"

Hana had to put her hand over her mouth to try and hide the smirk on her face, but Genma noticed right away and his cheeks flushed.

"Don't be weird! I'm just throwing that out there! He's objectively a good looking dude."

She snickered and shook her head.

"I'm not being weird!" she still had to hide her growing smile behind her hand, making Genma groan and turn away from her, muttering "_fine, forget you"_ under his breath.

She laughed a little longer and eventually cleared her throat to stop. She could only imagine what Raido's reaction would have been if he'd been around to hear that comment. He would have turned bright red and been a stammering, flustered _mess_.

Oh well. She'd just have to get Genma to say something like that next time the three of them all hung out.

She did feel a little better though, despite annoying Genma into silence. In fact, she felt good enough that she was able to push Yumi's words out of her mind. So what if she was a complete and total knockout?

She was Shisui's ex for a reason.

Feeling a little better, Hana pulled up the web browser on her computer and pulled up Terumi Wealth Management's website.

Time to get back to her story and figure out who the office manager was.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

**_First and foremost THANK YOU to my lovelies: MiyuKazu, Kellie, Kira2212, Ki, & Honestlyxx! I do not deserve y'all and your amazingly sweet reviews._**

**_Ki: funny enough, I already have a full length Law fic in the outlining stage! Already have a title and everything(: That probably won't be up until December or January though since I'm finishing up my last semester of grad school right now. But it's awesome knowing there's interest! (If anyone ever looks at my crap blog on Tumblr you'll notice it's like 99.999% One Piece lmao)_**

_**Moving on: I don't think Manda is a cobra but I like cobras so yeah. Also, I'm sorry if you like Kabuto lmao. He's always irritated me sooooo here we are((((:**_

_**Leave any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**I spend 10 hours a day, 6 days a week reading and writing about the Internal Revenue Code for grad school, soooo let's hope this chapter is decent lmao.**_

* * *

Turns out that the search warrant yielded more results than either Shisui or Itachi could have imagined.

Yakushi had been at the house when they arrived as if he knew they were coming and decided on waiting for them.

He lived a single-family home, right off of the nearest highway exit. It was a small white house that was tucked away in a thicket of trees. It was one of those places that if you didn't know where it was, then you'd inevitably drive right past it.

They went through the motions: showing up with the warrant, searching the house, and looking for anything suspicious

Shisui had been wholly unprepared for what they'd find.

First, there had been the lab that was set up in a converted garage. And it wasn't a half-assed, thrown together meth lab like some of the guys on the force had been familiar with. It was a full blown laboratory with equipment, specimens, and even live cultures.

That had been the mild part.

Then there were the photographs.

Yakushi insisted the photographs were of cadavers for his research, but they were so gruesome. They were photographs of people with their faces peeled back, missing limbs, and even extra limbs growing out of unnatural areas.

They were disturbing, no doubt. But they weren't necessarily evidence.

But that changed when they found a woman's purse, and inside the purse was Himuka Suzukaze's driver's license and student ID.

They brought Yakushi into custody after that.

And call Shisui insane, but he thought that Chief Shimura would be happy that they brought in a legitimate suspect with physical evidence to potentially tie him to the murders. But once Yakushi was brought in and being processed, Shimura wasted no time bum-rushing his way to Shisui and Itachi and ripped them away from the rest of the team.

"Care to explain to me what the two of you are doing?" Shimura addressed both of them, but his focus was on Shisui and Shisui alone.

"Uh, we're bringing in a suspect," Shisui said. "A legitimate suspect. A suspect that had a dead girl's purse in his house, a dead girl that he didn't even know. I thought you'd be happy about this."

"Bringing in a random office manager—"

"There you go again bringing up someone's profession. You did the same thing when we mentioned Orochimaru. Am I missing something here? Is there a reason you don't want us looking into Orochimaru or Kabuto Yakushi?" Shisui retorted.

"Shisui," Itachi warned.

Danzo crossed his arms and stared Shisui down. His upper lip curled in what could only be disgust and his eyes flickered down Shisui's frame one time, effectively sizing him up and looking disappointed all within the span of a few seconds.

"Hard to believe you're an Uchiha," Shimura hissed.

Shisui recoiled.

He was used to being compared to Itachi and even Fugaku. Fugaku was becoming a legend in the Bureau. There wasn't a case the man couldn't solve. People who knew of him in the force even started calling him "Wicked Eye Fugaku" because there wasn't anything he couldn't figure out if he looked at it long enough.

So he was used to being compared to his esteemed uncle and up-and-coming cousin. What he wasn't used to was being negatively compared to them.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're a sorry excuse for an agent and a sorry excuse for an Uchiha. And to think, there was once a time where I even admired the Uchiha family," Danzo said, voice eerily calm.

Shisui's lips parted in shock. What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

"Who the hell do you think—"

"Shisui, would you go check in with Raido? I believe he wanted to talk to you about something," Itachi said.

Shisui held Danzo's gaze in a silent standoff, and even though he was certain that he could win, he looked away for Itachi's sake.

He didn't say anything after that. He just stalked away down the hall, absolutely fuming.

He had some fucking nerve coming at Shisui like that when all he did was bring in a valid suspect. Danzo should have been bouncing off the goddamn walls with joy, not berating him for doing his job.

And then insulting him?

What the actual fuck was that guy's problem?

He fumed, pacing around the kitchenette as he tried to temper his anger. He didn't care what Danzo said. He was good at his job and he knew that. The Chief of Police be damned.

He just wanted to put his fist through the drywall.

"You okay?"

Shisui looked up just in time to see Raido coming into the kitchenette.

"Fine," he said through his teeth as he crossed his arms.

"Look," Raido said with a sheepish smile. "I know Chief Shimura can be a real prick sometimes but he really does love the city."

"Yeah well, that doesn't give him a reason to treat me like shit."

"No, but in his mind it does. Why does he have it out for you anyway?" Raido asked, walking right past Shisui to pour coffee into a paper cup.

"Hell if I know," Shisui admitted.

"Don't let it bother you," Raido said. He put the coffee to his lips and gave Shisui a warm smile. "Believe it or not, things have been going a lot smoother since you and Itachi came here. And it sounds like Yakushi might be our guy, so if it all works out, we might have our lives back."

Shisui couldn't argue with that. Once they solved the case he could go back to getting more than a few hours of sleep a night and actually enjoy his weekends instead of working them.

Maybe then he'd be able to talk to Hiruzen Sarutobi about the whole Kagami thing.

"Hey, how long have you known Hana?" Shisui asked suddenly.

Raido cocked his head to the side slightly and looked thoughtful. "I think since elementary school. Why?"

"You know her family at all?"

"Well, I know her dad and her brother, but that's about it. Again, why?"

"It's kind of a long story," Shisui said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't suppose you ever met her godfather?"

Raido narrowed his eyes impossibly small.

"No," he said. Shisui's shoulders deflated a bit as he leaned against the wall. He knew that was a long shot anyway, no point in getting upset about it. "But Genma might have."

He looked up from the floor to meet Raido's eyes.

"Really?"

"They were neighbors as kids. He's met that entire family on more than one occasion."

Shisui pursed his lips as thoughts ran through his head. Would it totally be out of line if he reached out to Genma about that? He wasn't totally sure, but Shisui was fairly certain he was crossing some sort of line there.

"Is there something I'm missing here?" Raido finally asked.

Shisui paused and decided, why not? What was the point in keeping it a secret anyway?

"Her godfather was my father," Shisui said, angling his head downwards just enough that a lock of hair fell across his left eye.

Raido stared at him for what felt like hours before he cracked and actually started laughing.

"Are you shitting me?"

"I wish," Shisui said with a bitter smirk.

"Now that's just freaky," Raido said. He took a long swig of coffee and shook his head. "She's always had a way of stumbling into weird shit."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that," Shisui said. "This sort of thing is not normal for a girl you meet a bar and go home with."

"Wouldn't know. Not really my thing," Raido admitted. And Shisui could appreciate how unapologetic Raido seemed when he said that.

"Don't make it your thing," Shisui said, offering Raido a grin. "If you do that you'll end up spending all your free time with a nosy journalist who has a habit of getting too close to your murder cases."

"That sounds oddly specific," Raido said. He grinned back and started to head over to the threshold of the kitchenette that led back out into the main area of the building.

"Hey, just trying to help you out. It's better than getting close with someone who you know is trouble."

"Getting close, huh?" Raido repeated.

Shisui blinked dumbly at the scarred officer. He really just said that, didn't he? Where the hell did that come from?

"Yeah," he said as he cleared his throat. "Something like that."

Raido didn't say anything back. He just smirked and disappeared from view, leaving Shisui to stand there completely and totally dumbfounded.

Wow.

He couldn't believe he just said that.

* * *

Sasuke flipped through his lecture notes to pass the time, relaxing on the little couch of his small apartment just off-campus. He then sighed and looked up at the ceiling with a glare. Friday night just couldn't come fast enough.

Every Friday night the research assistants went out for drinks together and every Friday night Sasuke declined their offer to join them. But he wouldn't this week. This week he would accept the offer and go to find out more about this Kabuto Yakushi and Tayuya's little outburst from when Itachi and Shisui stopped by.

Itachi hadn't responded to any of his texts all day and the burning curiosity was threatening to tear Sasuke apart. He just needed some sort of information. He needed something to latch onto.

Itachi and Shisui wouldn't have stopped by unless absolutely necessary. And Sasuke wasn't one to jump to conclusions, but all things considered, he couldn't help but think the absolute worst.

Was this former research assistant the serial killer or something? Why else would his brother stop by to ask Orochimaru about him when he was in the middle of working the case?

It was all too frustrating. Sasuke was used to being in the know, not being on the outside looking in.

"Sasuke! Open up! We've got pizza!"

Sasuke groaned at the sound of Naruto's voice.

"No one's home," Sasuke grunted, even though he was already standing up and walking over to the front door.

Naruto and Sakura stood there, each offering him big grins and he frowned.

"What are you doing here?"

"You've been a hermit lately and we were worried," Naruto said. He shouldered right past Sasuke and into the "kitchen". He didn't really have one per se since his apartment was actually a studio, but there was a little stovetop there and a single block of counter space for Naruto to set the pizza down on.

"Yeah you don't even get coffee with us anymore," Sakura said as she avoided his eyes.

He fought back the urge to huff and roll his eyes. He understood that they were concerned, but showing up at his apartment unannounced was out of line.

Normally Sakura had some sort of handle on Naruto, but clearly not this time.

"I've been busy with this research assistantship," he said, closing the door behind her.

"We know that, Sasuke. We just know how seriously you take this sort of thing and we want to make sure you're taking care of yourself," Sakura said. She placed her hand on his elbow and he couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes and walking away from her to grab a slice of pizza.

"Hey, when is your brother gonna catch the killer? People in the criminal justice program are getting pretty freaked out," Naruto said, leaning against the stove and stuffing his face.

Sasuke could have shared his concerns with Naruto and Sakura, but he didn't entertain that idea for very long. They already didn't like Orochimaru as it was. They didn't need another reason to dislike the guy or bust on Sasuke.

"No idea," Sasuke said before he took a bite.

"Well I can't wait," Sakura said. She pushed Naruto out of the way and helped herself to the pizza. "I don't even feel safe walking to class anymore."

"Are any of your classes talking about what's going on? Every time I turn on the news or go on the internet there's tons of coverage about it," Naruto said.

Sakura shrugged. "Only a little before class actually begins. I wish I could write about it though. I need to find a story and just go for it if I want to get a real job when I graduate."

"They don't assign you stories?" Naruto asked, his words getting increasingly more difficult to understand the more he shoved food into his gullet.

"No," Sakura said. "You go out there and pick one. I wish I had talked to Hana Sarutobi that day we saw her on campus. I would have loved to pick her brain and ask how she found the Zabuza story."

"Speaking of, Shisui's sleeping with her," Sasuke said off-handedly.

"What!" Sakura gasped.

Naruto snickered and grabbed another slice of pizza.

"C'mon, Sakura. Isn't that like a rite of passage for most girls?" he said with a giant grin.

"What the hell are you talking about, Moron?" Sakura snapped, glaring absolute daggers into their hyperactive friend.

"Sleeping with Shisui," Naruto said, still laughing. "I thought everyone did that."

"You're disgusting," Sakura growled.

"So is Shisui," Sasuke commented. Naruto cackled and Sasuke actually smirked at him before very casually closing his eyes and going back to eating.

Sakura huffed and that was immediately followed by the distinctive sound of her smacking Naruto on the back of his head.

"This is why we can't have nice things!"

Naruto laughed and said something back that Sasuke couldn't really decipher and then before he knew it, Sakura was shouting at him and probably punching him.

Sasuke sighed to himself admit all the chaos.

Having the two idiots over was a nicer distraction than he anticipated, so he'd enjoy it (as much as he could) for a little while and then he would get back to business and plan his first move for Friday night.

He couldn't afford any slip-ups if he wanted decent information.

* * *

It was late.

Really late. So late that Hana actually considered sleeping under her desk rather than going home.

The office was absolutely a more comfortable temperature than her apartment (she really needed to get the damn AC fixed) and she was pretty sure that she could find a blanket somewhere to use as she slept.

She had just fallen down a rabbit hole the minute she started looking into Terumi Wealth Management's office manager, Kabuto Yakushi, and that rabbit hole led her to still being at the _Byakugan Times_ office until well after midnight.

There wasn't a ton of information about Kabuto himself, but there had been loads of information out there regarding the research he did while working under a professor named Orochimaru at the University of Konoha.

That was how she fell down the rabbit hole.

Orochimaru had been a professor back when she was still in school and she recognized his name right away. It was all thanks to a humanities elective that she'd been forced to take. There had been a guy in that class who was working for Orochimaru that semester. His name had been Kimimaro.

He sat next to Hana and whenever their professor would make them pair off into partners to discuss a topic, she ended up working with him. He always was annoyed with the class and the fact that he had to take it to fulfill a requirement to graduate. He would often mention how everything else was secondary when compared to his research.

The way he would talk about Orochimaru always bothered Hana. He talked about the man like he was a god. Hana understood idolizing certain professors. The University of Konoha had no shortage of esteemed faculty after all. She herself idolized Jiraiya and a few others.

But the way Kimimaro talked about Orochimaru was just odd.

He talked about Orochimaru as if he walked on water, and it was honestly alarming, especially when considering just how much time he spent with him.

Then a few weeks before the semester ended, Kimimaro stopped showing up to class and it was announced to the student body that "with great sadness" the boy had passed away from an illness he'd been battling.

And while Orochimaru wasn't connected to Kimimaro's sudden passing per se, the amount of time he spent with the professor and the way he pretty much kissed the ground he walked on always unnerved Hana.

Ever since that happened Hana always felt some type of way about Orochimaru.

She never took him. He taught hard science classes and she never had to take any of those. She took an easy biology class to fulfill general education requirements as a freshman and that was it. She never had to take the high-level biochemistry classes the guy taught.

But when she started researching Kabuto and found that just about every single thing having to do with him also had to do with Orochimaru?

That familiar unease washed over her again.

Her research ended up taking her away from Kabuto and toward Orochimaru. His publications, while often hailed for the genius innovation, also had a lot of backlash from the scientific community.

People wrote articles criticizing him for violating the sanctity of the human body, calling his research half-baked and taboo.

The more she read about him, the warier she became.

Why was no one more suspicious of him?

His research literally revolved around experimenting on live human beings and his own peers were calling him taboo.

Was there something she was missing?

Looking away from her computer to rub her eyes, Hana tried to make sense of all the things she discovered over the last few hours.

She sighed and grabbed her phone off the desk to text Jiraiya to see if he knew anything about Orochimaru since they worked at the same school (though the chances were probably slim to none since they were in completely different departments).

When she unlocked her phone she saw that there was a text from Shisui from a couple hours ago and Hana refrained from looking at it until after she reached out to Jiraiya.

But once she texted him, she immediately looked at Shisui's message.

'**You busy?'**

Yumi's words echoed in the back of Hana's head.

It wasn't ridiculously late when he texted her, but it had still been well after 10pm and Hana's stomach clenched.

'_Save yourself the heartbreak and move on. There's nothing there other than physical interest.'_

It was almost 1:00am and she debated on whether or not she wanted to call him.

He obviously wanted her to come over for a hookup and a few days ago that wouldn't have bothered her. But with her heart racing every time she thought about him, and with Yumi's words taunting her, Hana could barely stomach the fact that Shisui only wanted her to come over to get his rocks off.

She huffed and against her better judgment, dialed his number and held her phone to her ear.

Shockingly enough, he answered on the first ring.

"You're up late," he greeted.

Her stomach did all sorts of butterflies at the sound of his voice and she absolutely, positively hated herself for it.

"Yeah," she said with a shaky laugh. She squeezed her eyes shut and mentally cursed herself for being such a bumbling idiot.

"It must be because you're melting over there. It was really hot today. I don't even want to imagine how humid your place is," he said easily.

"Yeah, it's probably gross," she said. "But I'm still at work so I'm nice and comfortable."

"The hell you doing there so late?"

"I got caught up with some research for a story," she said. She decided not to mention her suspicions of Orochimaru to him. He did this sort of thing for a living after all. If he decided Orochimaru wasn't a suspect, then there must have been a reason.

"Are you too caught up to come over?"

She could just _hear_ the smile in his voice. He was probably grinning, all confident and cheeky. He probably even had a twinkle in his dark eyes.

"Um…" Her words got caught in her throat and she felt like such an idiot.

She was so stupid, catching feelings when all she was to him was a fuck-buddy.

Her stomach hit the floor.

The sound of his soft laughter came through the phone and it overwhelmed nearly all of her senses.

"Hey, no worries. I was just throwing that out there. I don't want you to drive if you're tired anyway."

He was way too good at pretending he was concerned and it made her stomach hurt.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Hana, it's fine," he insisted. He sounded like he genuinely meant it too and that made everything even worse.

"…Are you okay?"

"Mhm," she said, throat painfully tight.

She just kept thinking of Yumi and the truth behind her words. Yumi, who was small with killer curves and who was so perfectly put together, would know after all. She was the one who dated Shisui for years. If anyone knew what was going through his head, it was her.

Suddenly Genma's suggestion of asking Shisui be her date to the wedding seemed so incredibly stupid.

"You don't sound okay," he said after a brief silence.

Should she tell him about Yumi? She really considered it, but it probably wasn't a good idea to bring up his drop-dead gorgeous ex-girlfriend.

"It's nothing. I just have a lot going on and Mr. Hyuga threw another story at me and it's a lot," she said. Her words came out too fast and she was all too aware of it. And while her words weren't untrue, they weren't the reason for her mood.

"Yeah? What's the story?" Shisui asked. Damnit. He was too good at feigning interest too.

"Oh," her voice got caught in her throat for a quick second. "I uh… I have to cover Tsunade Senju's wedding this weekend. I actually thought I'd be exempt from it but Mr. Hyuga said otherwise."

"Sounds like fun. I love weddings," he said, and sure enough, Hana could hear the smile in his voice again.

"Really? You should come then." The words came out before she could think better of it and her blush was instantaneous.

Hana didn't even have to be in the same room as him to know that he was smirking and she felt like her heart was about to burst from her chest. God, she was such an idiot, wasn't she? She couldn't keep her fat mouth shut for five seconds…

"As your date?"

Oh, he was absolutely smirking. There was just a smugness in his voice that effectively got under her skin.

"Only if you want," she said right away. "Genma is usually my date to these events but he's pretty much married to Raido these days, so he can't come. You definitely don't have to though! I know you're crazy busy with the case."

"Well, I can't say too much about it, but I think I'll actually be free this weekend."

She was torn between wanting to grill him on what that meant (did they arrest someone? did they find a solid lead? were they about to solve the case?) and wanting to bury her head in the sand and pretend he didn't say anything at all. She wanted to know, but the thought of using him for information made her sick to her stomach. So she left it alone.

"Is that so?" she asked, trying her hardest to sound nonchalant.

"That's right. I should have time if everything goes smoothly and I'd love to be your date," he said, voice completely genuine.

Her head felt like it was spinning. He didn't just say that, did he?

"Plus, I really wanna see you in a dress. I'm a sucker for a girl with long legs," he quipped.

Once again, the words left her mouth before she could think better of it. She knew she shouldn't have said it, but she just couldn't help herself. It was that awful word vomit that used to plague girls like her back in high school.

"And here I thought tall girls weren't your type."

Silence.

Shit. She fucked up.

"Huh?"

Hana spun around in her office chair and ran her hand over her face.

Damnit. She couldn't keep her goddamn mouth shut, could she?

"It's nothing," she said. She hoped that going on damage control would be enough to make him drop the subject. "Seriously. Nothing at all."

"Obviously not if you felt the need to say it," he said. She could hear the confusion in his voice. Hell, he even sounded a little upset?

"I just…" Too late now. She already invited him to the wedding and already let her miserable little comment slip out. She might as well just let it all out. "This girl from Terumi Wealth Management came by today to meet with Mr. Hyuga. I'm a nosy journalist so I asked her what the feds were doing there and before I knew what was happening, you came up…" Hana cleared her throat. "She was absolutely gorgeous. A total knockout."

"…Hana, what did she say to you?"

There was no playfulness or teasing in Shisui's voice anymore. If anything, he sounded pissed.

"Nothing really," she mumbled.

Hana wasn't sure if she had ever felt so self-conscious before. It was one thing when she was just using Shisui for information and sex. But now that she actually was developing feelings for him? God, she just felt so _stupid_.

"Her name was Yumi. And seriously, she was a knockout. A babe." Hana fiddled with her hair and pushed it away from her face. "I can't believe she's not a model or an actress."

The sound of Shisui seething through his teeth came through the phone and all Hana could do was mess with her hair and bite down on the back of her bottom lip.

"Tell me what she said to you," he pressed.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Too late. I'm worried about it," he said right away.

"Why?" she retorted.

He groaned and came back with a tight, "because she—she's… Yumi can be…" He tripped over his words and Hana didn't miss just how tongue-tied he really was.

"Still hung up on your ex?" She forced a chuckle to accompany her words, hoping that she didn't sound nearly as bitter as she felt.

"Fuck no!" Shisui said without a moment's hesitation. "I just know that she can be super vindictive, so if she said something nasty to you—"

Too caught up in the way her stomach churned and the way she could hear her heartbeat in her ears, Hana starting rambling.

"She just mentioned that I wasn't your type and that you were only interested in me for physical reasons. Which I mean, yeah, I guess that's not wrong. It was just kinda off-putting to hear that. Especially when it comes from a girl who looks like _that_. Did I already mention that she was a total knockout? Because she was."

"Hana," Shisui said with a groan.

"Shisui," she said right back, pushing herself out of her computer chair to pace the dimly lit office when she couldn't take sitting down any longer.

"Yumi can be vindictive as hell. Don't let anything she said upset you."

"Oh, I would never," she said with an eye roll, thankful that he couldn't see her.

"You sound put off by it," he said.

"I'm not. Why would I give a shit what my fuck-buddy's ex says about me?" she said. She really hoped that she didn't sound bitchy when she spoke, but she was fairly certain that she did. And Shisui's response did not help that at all.

"Ouch," he mumbled.

Yeah, she definitely sounded bitchy and she didn't trust herself to say anything else, so she just continued to pace the office to try and calm her nerves.

"That tone you just used tells me that you are absolutely put off by it," Shisui pressed.

"Well, she's not wrong!" Hana blurted, unable to stop herself. "I am _definitely_ not your type after seeing her—I'm not even your type for just a drunken hookup! If you go for girls like that, then what the hell are you doing talking to someone like me?"

_Stop it, Hana. Just shut your mouth._

"All I can assume is that I'm better in bed because if you date girls like _that,_ then you are slumming if you're sleeping with a girl like me."

He was seething through his teeth again and Hana squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could. Maybe it was just a dream and she didn't actually just spew all her insecurities out onto Shisui Uchiha. Maybe it—

"This might be hard to believe considering how we met, but did it ever cross that one-track-mind of yours that maybe I like hanging out with you?"

Hana wasn't sure if she'd ever been more thankful in her life to have been alone, because she was positive that her face was on fire.

"…Um no," was all she could stutter out.

He scoffed, "think about it. How many other one-night-stands do you go seeing almost every other day?"

She chewed on the back of her bottom lip and put her free hand to her forehead.

"Fair enough," she said.

"Granted, you _are_ better in bed but that's really just an added bonus," he tacked on with a light laugh that did nothing for her nerves.

"Gee thanks," she said with another eye roll accompanied by an embarrassed laugh.

"I don't even mind that you're hiding a murderer from me," he teased.

"Ugh, we're back to this?" she asked as she directed a glare at one of the many empty cubicles.

"You're actually off the hook right now since we brought someone in and for the first time, you were not connected in the slightest," he paused and she could imagine him grinning. "It was a relief. Now when I talk to Itachi about you he won't give me that judgmental look."

"Talking 'bout me behind my back, Uchiha?" she quipped, trying to smother her own smile even though no one was around to see it.

"Only when I'm freaking out about how close you are to my murder case," he said easily.

It was quiet after that, but it was comfortable silence, one that made her second guess herself for being so self-conscious about the Yumi thing.

"What color is your dress?" Shisui asked, breaking the silence.

"Wait what?"

"For the wedding," he reminded, voice surprisingly soft and patient. "What color is your dress?"

"Oh. I think I'm going to wear this lavender one I have. I've been told the color really brings out the green in my eyes," she said with a quiet chuckle.

She could hear the distinct sound of his own breathy laugh and it was all she could do to stop herself from grinning ear to ear.

"Perfect. I'll make sure I have a lavender tie then."

She looked down at the floor and bit her lower lip.

"Thanks," she said.

"Anytime."

That same silence settled over them again, only this time it wasn't as comfortable. It was a little heavier, almost as if there were some unspoken words hovering in the air between them.

"Go get some sleep. I'll talk to you later," he said before she could ask him if everything was all right.

She nodded even though he couldn't see it.

"Yeah, you too."

They each lingered on the line a little bit longer until Hana finally said goodbye and hung up.

She let out a breath she'd been holding and rubbed away the tension between her brows.

Her doubts about Yumi were quelled and she had a date for the wedding now. Those were both good things.

All she had to do was not fuck it up when she told him the truth.

Easy.

Right?

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

**_Thank you: Ki, MiyuKazu, Honestlyxx, and Kellie for your reviews! I love y'all ugh._**

**_Leave any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:_**


	14. Chapter 14

The first thing Yumi did on Friday morning when she had some free time was waltz right into Mukai's office and slam the door shut behind her.

He was at his desk and jumped when she abruptly walked in.

"Whoa, everything okay?" he asked.

"Did you hear about Kabuto?" she asked. She didn't even bother sitting down in one of his spare office chairs and instead sat on his desk, right in front of him.

"No? Is he sick or something? He hasn't been in the office all week," he said.

Yumi frowned. Mukai looked a bit like a mess today. His dress shirt was wrinkled and his tie was crooked. Even his hair was a little unruly, which was rather uncharacteristic for him. His brown hair was a little longer, stopping right at his shoulders, and because of the length, he was usually religious about keeping it well maintained.

She knew he woke up late this morning but she couldn't believe that she let him leave the apartment looking like that.

"He's been arrested," she said carefully, making sure to fully enunciate her words so there was no chance of misunderstanding her.

"What? How do you know that?" he blurted.

"He called Miss Terumi today. He's been arrested by the feds. They think he's the killer."

Mukai's lips parted in shock, searching for something to say.

These were the times she wished he had stayed in the force. It was nice always knowing what was going on when she was with Shisui. Granted, he was always really good about never saying anything about the cases to her, but Mukai was not. When he was still an agent, he was pretty open about the cases he worked on and who the suspects were.

She liked being in the know and it was quite the adjustment when Mukai told her he was leaving the force after the whole Shisui thing blew up.

"There's no way. Not Kabuto," Mukai said.

"Yeah. I wonder if Shisui knows anything about it," she muttered, carefully adjusting her hair so all of her curls laid just right.

Mukai didn't seem to like that because his face immediately settled into a glower.

"What?" She asked.

"You're talking to Shisui?" he muttered.

Yumi could have laughed.

"Don't worry. He wants nothing to do with me," she said.

"Good," he grumbled.

Yumi rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. Her mind flickered back to the girl from _Byakugan Times_ and she crossed her arms, wondering how someone like that ended up in bed with _Shisui _freaking_ Uchiha_.

"He's hooking up with some poor journalist from _Byakugan Times_," Yumi said absentmindedly. "Poor thing. She's going to get her heart broken."

"Yeah?" Mukai asked as his eyebrow quirked above the other. "Which one? I have a subscription to their paper. It's the only decent one in the city."

"Her name was Hana. I didn't get her last name. She can't be very high up in the company though, not with the way she dresses," Yumi said, looking down at her nails and glaring when she noticed a chip in her nail polish.

"Hana? As in Hana Sarutobi?" Mukai pressed.

Yumi looked away from her hands just in time to see Mukai's light eyes practically double in size.

"I don't know. Maybe? She had a ton of freckles and crazy hair that was begging to be brushed."

His mouth dropped, "he's sleeping with _Hana Sarutobi_?"

"Is there something I'm missing here?" she snapped, already fed up with his shitty attitude.

"Don't you know who that is?" he snapped right back. "You don't remember the Ame crisis that happened at the start of the year? When they had a Konoha civilian in one of their prisons because they thought there was a spy?"

She stared at him and crossed her arms.

"Of course I remember. I'm not an idiot."

"That _prisoner_ was Hana Sarutobi," Mukai deadpanned. "She was locked up over there for _months_."

Yumi stared at him in silence as she remembered the way she thought the girl had no ambition when they met in the office.

And then in the same breath, she remembered watching the news earlier that year as reporters stood outside of a hospital, giving updates on the Konoha civilian who had just been released and returned to the country.

She wasn't sure if she had ever felt like such an ass before.

"Oh," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Mukai said. "She hasn't been at _Byakugan Times_ for very long. I think she covers celebrity-bullshit now."

Okay. So maybe Shisui wasn't totally slumming then. Fair enough. Yumi could give him that. He went after a girl who made a name for herself (even if she did it in a stupid way). But even if she gave him that, she wouldn't take her words back.

It just wasn't like Shisui to go after a girl who _looked_ the way the Sarutobi girl did.

"He could definitely do worse than that," Mukai said.

Yumi sighed and ignored him as she thought of all the ways she made an ass out of herself.

"She was over in Suna too when they had their political uprising. It was actually a big deal in the Bureau because there weren't supposed to be any civilians over there to begin with. If you look at the shit she's done it's actually really impress—"

"Okay, she's fucking great, I get it already!" Yumi snapped out of the blue.

Mukai promptly shut his mouth and watched her in confusion.

She put her hand over her mouth and placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what just came over me," she said quickly.

Mukai nodded very slowly before he took her hand off his shoulder and interlaced their fingers together.

"You're not… You're not jealous, right?"

"What?" Yumi said under her breath. "Of course not. Why would I be jealous of a girl that Shisui is just using?"

Mukai nodded, but his brows were still knitted together and it made her stomach twist and turn in all sorts of unpleasant ways.

"Even if he wasn't just using her, you still wouldn't be jealous, right?" Mukai asked soft enough to make her chest ache.

She forced a laugh, "trust me, Mukai. I know him. He's only using her to get his rocks off."

Mukai's worried look only intensified and a crease appeared on either side of his mouth.

"Yumi—"

"I gotta go. I have to finish a report for Miss Terumi," she said.

She pulled away from him and headed over to his office door and gave him the prettiest smile she could muster.

"I'll see you when it's time to go home, okay?"

He nodded and crossed his arms.

"Sure."

* * *

Friday arrived quicker than Sasuke could have hoped for and he was more than ready for it. He went about his day, trying to act as normal as possible and not overthink anything. His classes were long and his assistantship was exhausting, but when Tayuya extended the invite to him for weekly drinks, he jumped on it.

Which brought him to where he was now, sitting at a bar on campus across from Sakon and beside Tayuya, trying to find the best time to interject and ask them about Kabuto Yakushi.

Which was easier than he thought it would be because it took no time at all for Tayuya to bring it up.

"He has some nerve directing the FBI to Orochimaru. He's probably the one behind the killings in the first place," Tayuya hissed.

"Yeah, he probably has a lab in his basement with dead cats pinned to the walls," Kidomaru said as he downed half of his beer.

"Who exactly is—" Sasuke didn't get his question out because Tayuya turned on him.

"You knew those feds," she stated with a hard glint in her eyes.

"Yeah," Sasuke said with a frown. "It was my brother and cousin."

"Come from a big family of law enforcement?" Sakon asked as he tilted his head to the side and stared him down.

Sasuke frowned harder until he was scowling at them. So much for staying in control of the conversation.

"My father is in the bureau and so was my uncle."

"All feds," Sakon said with a hum.

"Is that a problem?" Sasuke asked.

"Not at all," Jirobo said easily. "Sakon is just a little on edge with the Kabuto thing."

Sasuke didn't buy it, but his need to know more about Kabuto overpowered his need to tell Sakon off, so he chose to steer the conversation in that direction.

"So who is this Kabuto and why is he such a problem?"

The four research assistants all looked at each other, silently communicating through eye contact alone. It was like Sasuke was a kid again, feeling out of the loop while Shisui and Itachi looked at each other like that.

He was too old for this bullshit.

"Kabuto is a former research assistant who is absolutely nuts," Tayuya finally said.

"What makes him so nuts?" Sasuke pressed.

He wasn't sure what made them open up to him, but the four of them began to launch into a tale about Kabuto, a snake named Manda, and an attack on a security guard that landed the former research assistant in a psychiatric institution and indefinitely barred from ever working in labs again.

Sasuke's mouth was suddenly very dry.

"And that bitch Anko blamed everything on Orochimaru. She said that he was perpetuating a cult-like mentality amongst the research assistants and then she left. But once she left Kabuto had to work more and he got completely overwhelmed and snapped," Sakon hissed, clenching his hand around his glass.

"Anko?" Sasuke asked.

"Anko Mitarashi," Kidomaru said. "She was Orochimaru's original research assistant and was pretty much in love with him."

Sasuke sighed and rubbed the back of his head. There was a lot of bullshit that he had no idea about. He thought that he was just working as a research assistant, not jumping headfirst into a goddamn _cult_.

"The messed up part is that Kabuto wasn't wrong. He may have snapped like the freak he was, but he was right to want to take the Zetsu cells and apply them to a living person," Kidomaru grumbled.

"If he hadn't snapped, we would have been able to take volunteers and apply the cells that way. But no. He had to go off the deep end and ruin _everything_ for us," Tayuya hissed under her breath.

"The cells don't work if there's blood in the body. So how would you have been able to apply them to a living person anyway?" Sasuke asked. He looked down at his glass of water and wondered if it was enough to drown himself with. Surely that would have been better than joining the cult of Orochimaru's followers.

"Orochimaru has a theory," Jirobo said.

It earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs from Kidomaru.

Sasuke blinked and looked around. All four of them were suddenly looking studiously at their drinks rather than at Sasuke.

"What's the theory?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing. There's no theory," Sakon insisted. "Jirobo is just an idiot."

Was it worth it for Sasuke to call them out on their lies? He wasn't sure.

He thought it might be, but with the way they were ignoring him and with the way they were all suddenly trying to change the subject, he didn't think it was worth the effort.

He'd just have to find another way to get more information.

Maybe he could find this Anko Mitarashi and talk to her instead.

* * *

"You better make sure this is the right guy," Danzo grumbled from where he stood beside Shisui as they watched Itachi question Kabuto Yakushi.

"Well he's the best we've got," Shisui said.

In all honesty, Shisui wasn't sure if Kabuto Yakushi was the guy or not. The evidence seemed to suggest he was. Not only did they find Himuka Suzukaze's purse and ID at Yakushi's, but they also found Gotta Iburi's kendo gear as well.

Just from the evidence, it had to be Yakushi.

But there was this nagging feeling in the back of Shisui's head that said otherwise.

It was almost too easy to find all the evidence they needed to charge him with the murders.

It was never _that_ easy to find such solid, physical evidence unless it was planted by a dirty cop or someone with a vendetta. But neither of those scenarios seemed to fit Kabuto Yakushi. The evidence seemed too organic for that.

It didn't feel right though…

Danzo bristled beside him as Itachi started to question Kabuto about his time working with Orochimaru and Shisui's jaw locked.

Any time a question got too close to Orochimaru, Danzo got weird and twitchy like that, and Shisui wasn't an idiot. He noticed every single time and made a mental note of it.

There was definitely something there that needed to be looked into.

Maybe money was involved, but there was definitely some sort of relationship between Danzo and Orochimaru—and Shisui didn't like it one bit. So he just bit his tongue and watched as Itachi tried (and failed) to get Yakushi to talk.

He then came out a few minutes later with a defeated sigh.

Kabuto had lawyered up when they charged him with the murders and he hadn't said jack-shit since.

"The DA will get something out of him," Hayate offered.

"Thank God for that," Shisui said.

Danzo didn't say anything to that. He just grunted and stared at where Kabuto was leaving the interrogation room with his attorney.

"Something doesn't feel right," Itachi said, coming to stand beside Shisui.

"Is that how the bureau conducts its investigations these days? On feelings?" Danzo snapped.

Shisui rolled his eyes. The Danzo bullshit was getting old and he was more than ready to be done with the case and free of Danzo Shimura and his snide comments.

"We'll be submitting a report to Fugaku," Shisui said as he directed a glare at Danzo.

"As will I," Danzo growled.

He stalked away after that, leaving Shisui and Itachi alone with Hayate.

Hayate sighed, "at least we'll have our freedom again."

"I agree," Itachi said.

Shisui noticed the crease between his cousin's brows and crossed his arms.

"You don't think it's Yakushi, do you?" he asked.

Itachi pursed his lips. "I'm not sure."

Hayate's eyes flickered between the two of them before he erupted into a fit of coughs.

"Who do you think it could be then?" Hayate asked when he got his coughing under control.

"I don't know," Itachi admitted.

"You think it could be Orochimaru?" Hayate pressed.

"I think it's possible," Shisui said. "There's enough of a connection there to make me question it."

"The evidence suggests otherwise," Hayate said.

"Yeah. I know," he said. "I'm just being paranoid."

Hayate crossed his arms and said a tired, "maybe a couple days off will do you some good. Come back fresh and reexamine the case."

"Yeah. Maybe," Itachi said, apprehension clear in his voice.

"Anything fun planned for tomorrow, Hayate?" Shisui asked. He was eager to break the tension and stop thinking about serial killers and conspiracies and miserable chiefs of police.

"Not really. I'm just going to spend some quality time with my girlfriend, Yugao. She's been upset with how much I've been working lately," Hayate said with a tiny ghost of a smile. "What about you? Any plans?"

"Just going to spend time with my younger brother," Itachi admitted. He smiled as he said it and Shisui's couldn't help but join him. Itachi was never as happy as he was when he was spending time with Sasuke.

"That'll be nice. What about you, Shisui?"

"I'm going to a wedding," Shisui said, plunging his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah? Whose?"

"Tsunade Senju's," he said, unable to help the smirk that slithered onto his face.

Hayate blinked in surprise and Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't know that," his cousin said.

Shisui shrugged. "Hana's got connections."

Hayate chuckled under his breath and shook his head, "connections and sheer, dumb luck."

"Yeah, I kinda put that together," Shisui snickered as he spoke and Hayate only looked amused.

"Well have fun at the wedding. And whatever you do, don't let Hana and Jiraiya start any drinking games," Hayate said as he started to walk away.

Shisui chuckled and started to get his things together to head out of the station with Itachi.

They were both pretty quiet as they did, silently moving through the motions of packing up and getting ready to head out. They were both likely thinking about the case and how convenient everything seemed. Shisui knew he certainly was.

He didn't get to dwell on that too long though because his phone buzzed on his way out to the car.

He expected it to be from Hana but was sorely disappointed when Yumi's name flashed across his screen.

Shisui resisted the urge to groan and dug the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Itachi.

"Can you drive?" he asked.

"Sure," Itachi said, catching the keys without even blinking.

Shisui slid into the car and unlocked his phone to see what the fuck Yumi could possibly want, already beyond irritated.

He already didn't want to see Yumi's face ever again for a plethora of reasons, but after hearing about what she said to Hana? She was as good as dead to him.

'**Hey not to bug you or anything but what happened with Kabuto?'**

Shisui stared at the text for a beat too long and sure enough, Itachi caught it.

"That's Yumi, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Shisui said with a sigh. He typed out a curt text that said he wasn't allowed to talk about anything and left it at that.

"Mm," Itachi hummed.

"Did I tell you what she said to Hana?" he asked.

Itachi shot him a look as he backed out of the parking lot.

"I didn't know they knew each other," Itachi stated.

"They don't. Supposedly she stopped by the _Byakugan Times_ office and ran into Hana. She said that she asked what the feds were doing at Terumi Wealth Management and supposedly I came up. Hana didn't really tell me what exactly Yumi said to her, but whatever it was, it really upset her," Shisui explained. He thought about the way Hana had been so uncharacteristically quiet and nervous on the phone the other day and it pissed him off.

Yumi had some nerve interfering with his relationships.

His phone buzzed again and he looked down to see what sort of bullshit awaited him.

'**Sorry. Just wanted to give it a shot since I was worried. How've you been?'**

He scoffed. Like actually scoffed out loud and earned a glance from Itachi.

"What the fuck is her problem?" he hissed.

He knew he shouldn't have sent it, but he was too pissed off to think better of it.

'**I was doing fine until I heard what you said to Hana.'**

"You seem really bothered by that," Itachi pointed out.

"Because I am," Shisui admitted. "I don't like the fact that Yumi was putting some stupid ideas into her head."

Itachi only hummed, an indicator that he had some thoughts on the subject. Shisui wanted to hear those thoughts too since he trusted his cousin. He always thought Itachi was wise beyond his years and he wanted to press him for his opinions, but Yumi sent him a quick response that stole his attention away.

'**I was trying to help. It's not right for you to play with her like that.'**

Shisui was fairly certain his blood pressure was very quickly starting to climb to unsafe levels as he typed out an irritated response.

'**Seriously? That's rich coming from you.'**

He seethed through his teeth and shook his head, glaring out the window in frustration.

The fucking nerve.

His phone buzzed again.

'**Well it's true. It isn't right for you to play with her like that.'**

'**S****he very clearly likes you and it's messed up that you're leading her on.**'

'**Be mad at me all you want, but do the girl a favor and walk away. Save her the embarrassment.'**

He must have read those texts a dozen times before he was able to process the meaning behind any of them.

First, there was the fact that she said he was "playing" with Hana. He didn't like that one bit. He wasn't playing with anyone. Second, there was the fact that Yumi was convinced Hana was genuinely interested in him. That was only mildly alarming, but not for the reason that Yumi maybe thought it was. And third, she wanted him to walk away from Hana to save her from the "embarrassment"—whatever the hell that meant.

He just didn't know what to say to any of that other than "what the fuck".

So instead, he opted for a short text that he thought made his point perfectly clear.

'**I'm not mad. I just don't care what you think.'**

Then to add insult to injury, he sent one last text.

'**And thanks for the heads up about Hana. I happen to like her too.'**

Okay, that was probably a little too petty, but Shisui definitely thought it got his point across and it made him almost one-hundred percent certain that Yumi would not be replying to him anytime soon.

Besides, it wasn't a lie.

He did happen to like Hana. He just wasn't sure what he wanted to do with that little revelation.

It was just easier to save that thought for some other time and think it over when he had a clearer head—preferably when he wasn't working a serial killer case or dealing with a jealous ex-girlfriend. He owed that much to Hana. He owed it to be fair enough to think about that sort of thing when his mind wasn't clouded with so much shit.

She deserved better than that.

He huffed and rubbed the bottom of his chin, reading over that last text he sent to Yumi.

If he knew anything about his ex, it was that she was probably reeling, about to pop a blood vessel from how pissed off she was.

And he knew he shouldn't have found that funny, but he was petty and absolutely did.

"Do I want to know what just happened?" Itachi asked tiredly.

"I just put Yumi in her place is all," he said.

"Shisui," Itachi scolded.

Shisui sighed and gave his cousin a weak smile.

"I didn't cuss her out or anything. I just told her that I liked Hana," he admitted with a casual shrug.

His cousin's eyes glinted.

"Oh really?" Itachi asked. Shisui just nodded and his cousin actually smirked a little. "And is that true or were you just saying that to get under Yumi's skin?"

"Would you believe me if I said both?"

Itachi smirked a little harder and rested his head against the back of the headrest.

"As a matter of fact, Shisui, I think I would."

* * *

"You're doing what now?" Hana asked, sitting on the carpeted floor of her living room and looking at where Genma and Raido sat on her couch. Genma was leaning back with his arm draped across the back of the couch as he sipped a beer while Raido sat at the other end, very carefully ignoring Genma and how sprawled out he was.

"I haven't seen them in years and I didn't want to go by myself," Raido squeaked.

Hana stared him down suspiciously.

It was Friday night and since the police force was convinced that they had their killer in custody, the team working the case got the rest of the evening off. So Hana took that as an opportunity to invite Genma and Raido over to hang out like old times. And once they came over, the first thing she did was ask what they were doing that weekend since Genma had told her he couldn't be her date to the wedding.

And apparently, it was because they were going to see Raido's family.

Which was odd because Raido didn't speak to his family. They pretty much disowned him when he went into the police academy and moved away. They barely spoke at all in the years since, and for him and Genma to go away for the weekend to see them was just _odd_.

Not to mention, but Raido's parents hated Genma. They always said he was a bad influence, so the whole thing was just weird.

"Stop giving me that judgmental look!" Raido groaned.

"I'm not!" she said right away, holding her hands up in defense.

"Hey, if he wants to see his family then leave him alone," Genma said with a shrug.

He then sat up straighter and gathered all of his hair together and threw it up into a messy bun at the back of his head. And right away, a few locks of hair slipped out of the loose bun and fell forward in a way that perfectly framed his face.

"Fucking hell, it's hot in here," he complained once he finished throwing his hair up.

Hana watched the way Raido averted his eyes, suddenly very interested in the sliding glass door.

She bit back a sympathetic smile and crossed her legs under her.

"Yeah, it was so bad on Wednesday that I bought this sketchy window unit for my bedroom. I couldn't keep waking up in a pool of sweat," she said.

"Tell the old man to send someone over to fix it," Genma said as he pulled up the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. "He'll pay for it too if you ask nicely."

Raido rubbed the back of his head and snuck a glance at Genma's exposed stomach before promptly looking away and taking a sip of his beer.

"He pays for enough of my shit," she said, trying damn hard to avoid laughing at how flustered Raido was.

"I need to marry into your family. I want Hiruzen to pay for my shit too," Genma said with a smirk.

She scoffed, "well that's not happening. You'd make a horrible husband."

"No, I wouldn't," Genma argued. "I'm a great roommate after all. I do the dishes, I cook, I clean, I take care of _his_ ass when he's sick. Right, Raido?" He nudged their friend with his elbow and Raido smiled sheepishly at Hana.

"He _is_ a pretty great roommate," he admitted.

"Roommate and husband are two different things," Hana teased. "Maybe you just need the right partner. If we ever got married, we'd kill each other."

Genma snickered, "yeah, we probably would."

"You need a Raido," she said, putting her glass to her lips and taking a drink just in time to see Raido look up with a beet red face. "He's the only person you're compatible with. All of your other roommates said you were a terror."

Genma scoffed, "Ebisu does not count."

"Oh no? What about Hayate and Yamato?"

Genma rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Obviously, Raido is the only person you're compatible with," she said. She didn't even bother holding back her smirk as Raido's face reddened even more.

Genma smirked though and, without warning, hooked an arm around Raido's neck and pulled him closer until he was pressed right up against Genma's side.

"Hear that? Apparently, I'm too much of a terror. So you're stuck with me, Namiashi."

Raido gave him a nervous laugh and pulled himself out of the headlock. He didn't go back to his end of the couch though. He just stayed where he was, pretty much seated right against Genma's hip.

"I'll find a way to manage," Raido quipped.

Genma grinned at Hana went back to leaning as far back into the couch cushions as he possibly could and draping his arm over the back of the couch, not at all bothered by the fact that his arm was essentially around Raido now.

Hana had to admit. It was cute as all hell.

"At least I won't be alone," he said.

"Can't relate," Hana said. "I think I need a pet goldfish to keep me company."

"What about your fed?" he asked.

"What about him?"

"Really? I thought you were above playing dumb. Where's that journalistic integrity now?"

She rolled her eyes and said a quick, "oh shut up, Genma."

"She's got a crush," he whispered (rather loudly) to Raido.

Raido blinked and gave her a wicked grin, probably about to have a field day with that little bit of information as payback for her teasing him moments ago.

"Hana Sarutobi has a crush?" Raido asked.

"Yes, she does. She's even taking him to the wedding tomorrow," Genma remarked.

"Oh wow. Sounds serious."

"I hate you both," she said with a scowl.

Raido laughed and shook his head. "I'm teasing. But if you're curious, I think he might be into you."

Hana blinked at him.

"What?" she deadpanned.

"He just said something the other day that made me think he might have a thing for you," he said with an easy smile. And damnit because Raido was too good-natured to say something like that unless he really believed it.

"What did he say?" she asked, completely unable to help herself.

"Oh my God, look at you. You're practically in love," Genma teased.

She couldn't do anything other than glare at him and he just gave her an all too smug smirk.

"Don't worry about it," Raido said, still smiling. "I'm just saying that it might not be as one-sided as you might think."

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't think that she could take this whole crush thing for much longer. Because seriously. That combined with the overwhelming guilt that was threatening to crush her was going to be the end of her real soon.

"Wow, you're really into him. Aren't you?" Raido asked, blinking at her a few times as he chuckled.

"Oh, don't you even go there," she growled.

"I'm not, I'm not," Raido promised with that easy smile. "You've always had my back. I've got yours."

They shared a long look together and Hana sighed and smiled softly at him. Raido was always too good for the rest of them. She, Genma, Aoba, and the rest of the crew could be real dicks when they wanted. But not Raido. He was always kind when the rest of them were too busy being assholes.

"Got your back with what?" Genma asked, directing every ounce of his attention to Raido. "You got a crush that I don't know about?"

The irony was too good and Hana would have laughed had it not been for Raido being so sweet mere seconds ago.

"Leave him alone," Hana said. "It's none of your business."

"But it's yours?" Genma retorted. "Raido, you wound me."

Raido rolled his eyes and straight-up ignored Genma.

"Excited for the wedding?" he asked.

She shrugged and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm mainly excited to see Jiraiya again. I texted him the other day with some questions and he said he would answer all of them when he saw me in person."

"What kind of questions?" Raido asked.

Hana pursed her lips. It was better not to say anything to Raido about her suspicions regarding Orochimaru, especially since he worked on the case. If it was just Genma, then sure. She would tell him. He had to edit all of her articles anyway.

But it was better that Raido didn't know anything. At least that way Shisui wouldn't be pissed at him for knowing the truth when she came clean.

Damnit, her stomach sank when she thought about how she would tell Shisui everything tomorrow. She still didn't really have a plan other than doing it at the end of the night in hopes he'd be in a good mood. But the more she thought about it, the more nauseous she felt.

"That look on your face tells me I don't want to know," Raido said.

"That'd be correct," Genma said. He yawned and stood up, stretching his arms overhead. "Come on. That's our cue to get the hell out of here before she starts freaking out."

"Should I be concerned?" Raido asked, even though he followed Genma's lead and also stood up.

"Nah, she'll be fine," he said. Genma then flashed her a bright grin. "Ain't that right, Leatherface?"

She groaned and raked her fingers through her hair.

"I'm gonna be sick," she whined, not even bothering to get up from the floor.

"Everything will work out how it's supposed to. And if you manage to fuck it up then we'll just get shitfaced and wallow in self-pity together," he said. He walked by and rubbed the top of her head, effectively turning her hair into a giant, tangled mess.

"That was rude," she said with a pathetic sigh, even though she made no move to fix it.

"You sure everything is okay?" Raido asked.

"It's honestly better if you don't know," she admitted. "That way you can claim ignorance."

Raido laughed nervously, "you're kinda freaking me out."

"She's fine. She's just being dramatic," Genma said with a wave of his hand. "You should be more concerned about seeing your folks tomorrow."

"Don't remind me," Raido grumbled. "Well let us know if you need anything tomorrow, Hana."

"Yeah, we might need an excuse to leave his parents' place if shit goes down. And your colossal fuck up would be just the thing," Genma said, his tone half-serious and half-joking.

Hana looked over her shoulder to see them lingering by her front door and gave them a tired smile.

"Expect my phone call then. I'm expecting the very worst," she said, mimicking Genma's half-serious, half-joking tone.

Genma snickered, "fantastic. Looking forward to it."

She flipped him off and he returned the gesture with a giant grin. Then before she knew it, they were gone and she was all alone in her sweltering hot apartment again.

She made her way into her bedroom after locking up and tried to take easy, calming breaths so she would just chill out.

Everything would be just fine.

Yep. Totally fine. No problems at all.

None whatsoever.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**I'm not late. It's still Sunday where I am lmao.**_

_**THANK YOU x a million to: MiyuKazu, Ki, Random stranger, and Kellie for the reviews on the last chapter! You know I love y'all.**_

_**Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Not late not late not late. It's still Sunday (barely) where I am lmao.**_

_**Tsunade is Hashi's daughter in this. Deal with it my friends :p**_

* * *

Hana stood in her bathroom, running a flatiron through her hair. Shisui would be coming over any minute now and she still hadn't managed to tame her unruly hair. Generally, she would just pin it into a low messy bun for these types of events and call it a day. But that was when Genma was her date and when she could give a shit about what she looked like.

Definitely not the case today.

Huffing in relief when her hair was finally straight, she walked into her bedroom to put her dress on.

Her apartment was still muggy and hot, but her bedroom was cool thanks to the window air conditioning unit and she sighed in relief when she walked into the crisp air.

She definitely did not want to be a sweaty mess when Shisui showed up.

Dabbing the sweat from her forehead, she snatched her phone off the bed when she saw there was a text waiting for her.

She expected it to be Shisui, but instead, it was from an unknown number.

'**Hey Freckles. Meet us in Naka Park at midnight. Same place as last time. Got something good for your story.'**

The words on her screen seemed to morph together the longer she stared at the text message.

She had both an overwhelming desire to tell Kin and her friends to leave her the hell alone and to simultaneously agree to meet up with them.

And damnit all because this was the _last_ thing she needed when she was planning on coming clean to Shisui that night.

She bit down on the back of her bottom lip and started to type out a response when a new text notification appeared on her screen.

This time it was from Shisui.

'**Here!'**

She cursed under her breath and texted him back saying she'd be down in just a second. Then she threw her phone on the bed and stepped into her dress.

It was a plain, lavender skater dress that stopped somewhere around her mid-thighs with a bit of a plunging neckline.

It was a little on the revealing side, what with the length of it and the deep v-neck, but it wasn't like she had much to show off anyway. Hana just didn't have the curves to draw a whole lot of attention in it the way a girl like Yumi might have.

She slipped on a pair of white gladiator sandals, grabbed a little clutch purse and her phone, and then headed out of the apartment.

Her heart pounded away in her chest and her stomach did all sorts of flips as she headed out of the apartment.

In the words of Genma, she needed to chill the fuck out. She didn't even have to stress about coming clean to Shisui until later that night. She could relax for now.

At least that's what she told herself.

She stepped outside and was confronted with hot summer air and she immediately put her hand to her hair, praying that it would stay straight despite the humidity.

Thankfully though, Shisui was in his car out front, and she held her breath as she slipped into the passenger's seat.

He looked her up and down with a wolfish grin and let out a low whistle.

"Damn. You got legs for days, Sarutobi," he quipped.

Fucking hell, she could already feel her face getting hot. She could only pray that Shisui assumed her face was flushed because of the heat and not because of his words.

"That's a good thing, right?" she said with a light laugh.

He grinned and she thought it was a little bit like looking directly into the sun.

Then he said an easy, "it's a very good thing."

She bit down on the back of her bottom lip again to hold off her smile and busied herself with pulling out her phone and typing the venue into her GPS.

"They're right you know," Shisui said when she finished typing in the address.

"Who's right about what?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Whoever told you that lavender brings out the green in your eyes. They were right," he said. His smile was a little softer and for once, he wasn't blatantly undressing her with his eyes. He was just casually looking at her like he had all the time in the world.

Fuck everything. She was doomed if he was going to keep doing this to her all day. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that she'd be able to chill out. Nope. None at all.

"Thanks," she said under her breath, clearing her throat as her heart _slammed_ against her ribcage. "It's nice to see you wear something other than black."

He laughed and put the car in drive. "I own plenty of clothes that aren't black."

"Oh of course," she said sarcastically, still smiling in spite of herself. "Go out here and take a right."

Shisui compiled all while wearing a smile on his face.

It wasn't fair that someone could look like that when they smiled. Not fair at all. How people like that even existed, she'd never know.

"So Tsunade is really close with my dad and the Sarutobi family, so please don't be alarmed when you're bombarded with my father, my brother and his wife, and some Sarutobi family friends," Hana said quickly, hoping like hell that didn't scare Shisui off.

It used to scare Genma back in the day, but he'd been subjected to so many family parties and celebrity events that he stopped bitching about it a few years ago.

Shisui glanced over at her with that relaxed smile that made it seem like nothing could ever bother him.

"That's okay," he said. "I don't suppose this wedding would be the right time to ask your father about why he didn't mention anything to me about Kagami?"

Hana gave him a sympathetic smile. "I don't think so, but if I can get him alone for a few minutes you're more than welcome to have at him."

"I might just take you up on that," he admitted.

She smirked and took the opportunity to check him out as he drove.

He looked good, almost unfairly so.

He wore black slacks that were fitted to his muscled thighs, a white dress shirt that hugged his biceps and chest in a way that made her hot all over, and a lavender tie that matched her dress and brought everything together. Not to mention, but the light purple of the tie provided a really pretty contrast to his dark hair and dark eyes.

She had damn good taste.

"Is that your father's watch?" she asked, gesturing to his left wrist where the familiar silver watch rested.

His eyes flickered down to the watch and a tiny smile ghosted across his lips.

"Yeah," he said. "How'd you know?"

"Bit of a lucky guess. It's not as sleek as some of the men's watches today, so the style is a little older, and you can see how worn it is around the edges," she paused and smiled at him when his eyes flickered over to hers. "Plus, I've never seen you without it. Figured it had to be pretty special to you."

"You're more intuitive than I give you credit for," he said as he took a look at her GPS before getting onto the highway.

"I wouldn't be a very good journalist if I didn't have at least some intuition," she said.

He smirked and said a light, "and that intuition is probably what got you locked up Ame, right?"

She blinked and laughed in spite of herself as she shook her head.

"Shut up," she said half-heartedly.

"I'm right, aren't I?" he teased. He looked at her embarrassed face and snickered. "You're not the only one with intuition, Sarutobi."

"Watch the road, Uchiha," she quipped.

Shisui laughed and looked away from her.

Hana continued to bite on the back of her bottom lip to hold back her smile, dutifully ignoring the butterflies in her stomach and the pounding of her heart.

* * *

"Where is your sister?" Hiruzen asked with a glare after the wedding ceremony was over. He sat with Asuma, Kurenai, and Jiraiya as Tsunade married Dan in a Victorian mansion, and currently was still seated, trying to seize the opportunity to locate his daughter as everyone left the reception hall.

The ceremony itself had been quite lovely. The reception hall of the mansion had been converted into a space for the ceremony, and Tsunade and Dan stood in front of a floor to ceiling window that was draped with beautiful white sheer curtains to mute the bright light from the setting sun.

Everything had been very tasteful of course.

The mansion was on historic grounds that were just north of the city on a massive plot of lush green land. The entire estate itself was absolutely massive and the mansion wasn't anything to sneeze at either. It was a beautiful old building that fit the "classic but chic" aesthetic, built of stone. The floors and furnishings had all been cherry wood and there were incredible thirteen-foot ceilings.

It was a beautiful affair all things considered. They had to be fast and leave the hall though so the workers could flip the room for the reception, but Hiruzen was taking his time, trying to find his daughter.

It wasn't like Hana to miss an event like this, but she was nowhere to be found during the ceremony.

"She texted me when she was on her way. She's around somewhere," Asuma said. He stood up with both Kurenai and Jiraiya, nodding his head to where the rest of the party guests were exiting the hall.

"Come on. We'll find her during the cocktail hour."

Hiruzen frowned but complied with his son.

The cocktail hour was outside on the mansion's large stone patio. There had to be at least two hundred guests out there and Hiruzen was getting a little suspicious about how he had yet to find his daughter.

Even if Hana didn't want to come to the wedding for personal reasons, she would have to for work. There was no way Hiashi Hyuga would let her miss such a big event.

But he still had yet to find her.

"Found her," Jiraiya's voice broke Hiruzen's train of thought and he looked around in relief.

"Where?"

"Over there," Jiraiya said, pointing across the patio. "In the purple."

Hiruzen followed Jiraiya's motion and sure enough, there she was, standing off to the side after just having engaged in small talk with another party guest.

She stood alone once she extracted herself from the conversation and started to type away on her phone. She kept her hair straight (the first time Hiruzen had seen in years) and wore a lavender dress that was cut a little too low for his liking.

He sighed in relief, thanking whatever higher power there was that she didn't skip the wedding, and started to walk over there, but came to an abrupt halt when a dark-headed young man joined her side and handed her a glass of white wine.

"Who is _that?_" Kurenai echoed the thoughts that were probably in everyone's head but Hiruzen's.

"Not sure, but definitely not Genma," Asuma said with a snicker.

"Can't remember the last time she was brave enough to bring anyone other than Shiranui to a family event," Jiraiya said with a grin on his face. Asuma laughed and said something in agreement that Hiruzen didn't quite catch because he was too absorbed in what he was looking at.

The young man at his daughter's side was her certainly her date. There was no doubt about that considering the fact he wore a lavender tie that perfectly matched her dress. And while it was true that 100 out of 101 times Hana brought Genma as her date to these events (since he already knew the family and couldn't be scared off anymore), that wasn't why Hiruzen had been surprised.

He had been surprised because he had no idea that his daughter knew Shisui Uchiha well enough to bring him to _Tsunade Senju's_ wedding.

Sure. Not that long ago Hana barged in on his meeting with the Uchiha FBI agents and she mentioned that she'd met Shisui at a bar. And while Hiruzen didn't like the fact that his daughter pretty much admitted to having a one-night-stand with the guy, he could at least take solace in the fact that that meant they were strangers and intended on keeping it that way.

But bringing Shisui Uchiha as her date meant that they were _not_ strangers and that gave Hiruzen indigestion. He didn't even want to think about what could possibly await him depending on how well his daughter and the Uchiha boy knew each other.

"I'll go get her," Asuma finally said after he and Jiraiya were done poking fun at Hana.

"No," Hiruzen said before his son got the chance to leave. "Leave them be."

Asuma narrowed his eyes, probably about to ask "why" when there was a sudden hand firmly planted on Hiruzen's shoulder.

Hiruzen turned around to see his former mentor, Tobirama Senju, dressed in a suit and blue tie.

"Tobirama," he said with a small smile. "It's been a long time."

A ghost of a smile flickered across his mentor's face. It had been years since Hiruzen had seen either of the Senju brothers and it was almost alarming how little they aged.

He'd yet to see Hashirama other than during the ceremony, but since he was the father of the bride, he was probably still taking pictures with the rest of the family. It was a miracle that Tobirama had gotten away, but then again, he probably just decided that he was done with pictures and left quietly as he was wont to do.

But aside from a few lines on the Senju's face, he looked as if he hadn't aged a day.

Damn Senju genes. Hashirama and Tsunade were the same goddamn way.

"It has, Saru," Tobirama said with a slight head nod. "Do you have a moment?"

As if someone could just _ignore_ Tobirama freaking Senju when he wanted a moment of your time…

"Of course," Hiruzen said. He followed Tobirama a few steps away from Asuma, Kurenai, and Jiraiya and held his breath. Hopefully, it was good news rather than bad news because if there was one thing Tobirama Senju was known for it was—

"That's Kagami's boy, isn't it?" Tobirama came right out with.

Hiruzen's eyes flickered to where Hana was with Shisui, smiling and laughing in the middle of their conversation.

"Yes," Hiruzen said under his breath.

"I wasn't aware that your daughter knew him."

"Neither was I," Hiruzen admitted. "They met at a bar and I thought that was the end of it. You can imagine my surprise when she showed up with him."

Tobirama raised his eyebrows in surprise but didn't say what was going through his head. He simply looked over his shoulder at Hiruzen's daughter and her date before he turned back around.

"I see," was all he said.

It had been years and the wound of the memory was still fresh, getting a phone call from Fugaku Uchiha saying that his cousin Kagami had been killed in an explosion on his way to work and that Kagami's son had watched the whole thing happen from the kitchen window.

His body had been burned so badly beyond recognition that there had been no choice but to give him a closed casket funeral.

Kagami's wife died in childbirth so the funeral fell on Fugaku, his closest relative, to handle. But Fugaku already had so much to deal with. He had two sons and was about to take in Shisui as his third, and was dealing with the Uchiha family backlash from the event, so he asked Hiruzen to handle the funeral because it was all too much.

The memory of the funeral was still a hard pill to swallow despite all the years that had passed.

Everyone, even Danzo, had been deeply affected by Kagami's sudden death.

So naturally, for Tobirama (someone who had been exceptionally close with Kagami) to see Hiruzen's daughter with Kagami's son at Tsunade's wedding was probably a lot to take in.

And if Hiruzen thought he could get away with it, he would have scolded Hana for it.

"I'm sorry if this is hard for you," Hiruzen said. "I had no idea she was going to bring him. If you want, I can talk to Hana and—"

Tobirama narrowed his eyes before Hiruzen could even finish his sentence.

"What are you talking about, Saru?" Tobirama asked.

Hiruzen blinked and cleared his throat, but didn't provide an answer.

Tobirama let out a heavy sigh when Hiruzen chose not to finish his sentence and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It makes no difference to me if Kagami's boy is here or not. I was only curious."

Hiruzen let out a breath he'd been holding and gave his former mentor a sheepish smile.

"Good to know," he said with a shaky laugh.

Tobirama smirked, barely noticeable if you didn't know the man well enough to see it, but it was there. He took one last look at Hana and Shisui before returning that tiny, ever-growing smirk to Hiruzen.

"They look good together," Tobirama said simply.

Hiruzen risked a look at his daughter. She sipped her wine as Shisui leaned probably a little too close to her and whispered something in her ear. She then promptly proceeded to start coughing and Shisui erupted into laughter. She put her hand to her mouth and said something, promptly whacking him in the arm. Shisui only grinned though, a big one that reminded Hiruzen of Kagami, and after Hana composed herself, she did the same.

"Yes, I suppose they do."

* * *

Hana definitely had experience with navigating her way through busy crowds of important people. Shisui wasn't sure he had ever seen someone navigate through a cocktail hour with so much ease before. She was able to schmooze her way through awkward small talk all while simultaneously getting statements and pictures for her article.

It was honestly impressive.

"How many celebrities do you know?" he asked when the cocktail hour was over and they had to make their way back into the reception hall for dinner.

"Not that many," she said. "Tsunade is close with my dad and he's close with the Senju brothers. All the other celebrities I've met have been on the job."

Shisui nodded and looked around at the crowd.

There weren't as many celebrities as he initially thought, but then again, he really shouldn't have been surprised by that. Tsunade was only famous was because she was Hashirama Senju's daughter and (for lack of a better term) pretty much an heiress. And Hashirama was only famous because he was a business tycoon. It made sense that she didn't have actresses and movie stars at the wedding.

That being said though, there were still notable figures present, including her father and uncle—both Senju brothers.

Hashirama walked her down the aisle and Tobirama sat in the front row with other notable members of the family. Aside from the bride herself, they were probably the biggest names there.

"I apologize in advance for how awkward this is going to be," Hana said, leading him over to their assigned table.

"Nothing to apologize for," he said with a smile that made her cheeks flush.

He seemed to have that effect on her as of late, and he remembered Yumi's text that said Hana liked him.

Maybe it had more weight than he initially thought.

They reached their table which consisted of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Hana's brother and his wife.

He recognized Asuma Sarutobi in an instant back from when he and Itachi interviewed all of the university professors who had known the victims of the Ryuchi Killings. And while Shisui had never met the man himself (as Itachi was the one who questioned him) he still knew who he was based on the file.

But it probably wasn't a good idea to mention that.

"Thought you were slick, huh?" Asuma said when they arrived.

"Actually, I did," Hana quipped, shooting her brother a self-satisfied smirk. "I managed to avoid your ugly mug for the entire ceremony and cocktail hour."

Asuma scoffed and shook his head.

"Hana, you going to introduce us?" Asuma's wife asked, leaning her elbows on the round table that was covered in a white tablecloth.

Hana's mouth twisted and Shisui noticed the way her hand seemed to grip her wine glass a little tighter.

"This is Shisui," she said quickly. "Shisui, this is my brother Asuma and his wife Kurenai, my mentor and family friend Jiraiya, and you've already met my dad."

He nodded with a friendly smile, awaiting the barrage of questions that he knew he was about to get.

Only he didn't.

Asuma simply looked at Hana with a wicked smirk on his face, one that was all confident and smug and most of all, painfully familiar.

The Sarutobi siblings didn't look much like brother and sister, what with how different their coloring was. Asuma had dark hair that was just a shade lighter than black, deep brown eyes, and a tanned complexion that he shared with his father. Hana, on the other hand, had sandy brown hair, eyes that were more hazel than brown, and a little bit of a lighter complexion that was littered with freckles.

But even though they didn't look alike, there was this swagger and confidence that the two shared which seemed almost hereditary.

Shisui was intimately familiar with Hana's unapologetic nature and the smug sort of confidence that she wrapped around herself like a cloak. And Asuma seemed no different, albeit he seemed a bit more relaxed than his younger sister.

But that shared swagger and grin? Those similarities were undeniable.

"Oh, so you've already introduced him to the old man?" Asuma quipped.

"Shisui and I met at work," Hiruzen said before Hana and Asuma could start bickering. "He's an FBI agent working on the Ryuchi Killings case."

Well alright then? Not that Shisui was opposed to people knowing about his work. He wasn't. He just thought it was a little odd that Hiruzen would announce that to the entire table, especially considering the fact that Shisui and Itachi had looked into Hiruzen, Asuma, and Jiraiya all as potential suspects.

And he noticed right away how both Jiraiya and Asuma seemed to be putting those pieces together, so he was more than relieved when Hana stepped in.

"Aaand that's all we're going to say about that," she said.

She sat down beside Asuma, leaving Shisui to sit beside Hiruzen. He wondered if she did that on purpose or not, but didn't get much time to think about as only moments later the bridal party walked in.

They went through the motions of the DJ announcing who all was in the bridal party and everyone walking in with big smiles on their faces as everyone clapped for Tsunade and Dan when they came in.

And not for the first time, Shisui noticed Hana typing notes onto her phone, a little reminder that the wedding was primarily a work engagement for her.

Shisui sat back quietly and went through the motions of watching the bridal party be introduced and watching the best man and maid of honor give their speeches. Everything was tasteful and classy and beautifully fucking normal.

No dead bodies. No murderers. No miserable chief of police breathing down his neck. And hell, Shisui had almost forgotten how much he missed normalcy.

It wasn't until a little after dinner was served did the questions start coming in.

"So how did you and my sister meet?" Asuma finally asked as they finished their dinner.

Shisui smirked, noticing the way that Asuma directed his question at Shisui instead of Hana, and the way Hana looked up with a glower.

"Asuma," she growled.

"Just at a bar," he said casually.

"A bar, hm?"

"Asuma, I swear—"

"And how long have you guys known each other?" Asuma asked, still smirking.

Shisui smirked right back. He had dated enough girls to be able to spot the "protective older brother" act from a mile away and because of that he could immediately tell that Asuma Sarutobi was definitely not that type of brother, but rather he just liked embarrassing his sister.

"Long enough," Hana snapped.

"You must have the patience of a saint to put up with our Hana," Jiraiya said. Shisui held back the urge to snicker as he looked at the man with white hair who was seated beside Hiruzen. Jiraiya's dark eyes then flickered to Hana with a sheepish smile, "no offense."

"I hate every single one of you," Hana muttered, eye twitching as she tore off a piece of bread and popped it in her mouth.

"Even me?" Kurenai teased.

Hana didn't dignify that with an answer. She just huffed and puffed and ignored them all.

Shisui leaned back in his chair, acutely aware of the tension in his date's shoulders and he felt a small pang of sympathy for her. Nothing quite like getting picked on by every single member of your family while with your date.

The conversation shifted away with a small chorus of chuckles and Shisui half-listened to the conversation that Hiruzen was now leading about how he never thought Tsunade would ever settle down.

Shisui took the opportunity to look over at a fuming Hana and placed his hand on her knee under the table, successfully grabbing her attention in an instant.

"You good?" he asked with a soft laugh under his breath.

The corners of her lips quirked upwards and her cheeks flushed in a way that drew attention to her freckles, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say he felt a fluttering in his stomach.

"Yeah," she said. "Sorry if they're bugging you."

"Not at all," he assured, giving her knee a quick squeeze before he let go.

Her face flushed even more so and she tried to hide it by looking away from him as she put her wine glass to her lips.

Shisui could feel his own tiny smile forming and hid it by tucking it into the rim of his water glass.

Not long after, everyone's attention was once again gathered by the DJ as he announced that it was time for the father-daughter dance.

Everyone turned to watch Tsunade and Hashirama Senju dance together with giant smiles on their faces. Shisui did the same, but from the corner of his eye, he noticed Hana taking notes on her phone again.

He got that she was there for work, but he wished that she would just loosen up a little bit.

"What are you looking at?" she asked softly so as not to disturb anyone watching the dance as she finished the note.

"You," he said matter-of-factly.

He watched the way her thumbs stuttered on the screen and how she immediately looked over at him, cheeks flushed once again.

"You're so extra, do you know that?" she whispered as a smile tugged at her lips.

He felt his own smile widen. "So I've been told."

He watched as Hana tried to bite back her smile but failed and relented with her notes, setting her phone back down on the table and carefully watching the rest of the father-daughter dance.

Then Tsunade and Dan had their first dance, the dance floor opened up, and right on cue, the bride herself came over to their table.

"The woman of the hour," Jiraiya said, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm sorry I'm just now saying hello," Tsunade said, resting her hand on Jiraiya's and Hiruzen's shoulder.

"But I'd love it if you all came out and danced with me," she said with a mischievous grin on her face and glint in her eyes. Hiruzen laughed and said no, and Jiraiya tried to do the same, but Hana stood up and wrapped her arms around Jiraiya's and pulled him out of the chair.

"Oh no, if Tsunade wants to dance, then you're dancing," she remarked.

Jiraiya fondly rolled his eyes as he looked between Hana on his right and Tsunade on his left.

"Thank you, Hana! You heard her, Jiraiya. Let's go," Tsunade insisted. She followed Hana's lead by wrapping her arms around Jiraiya's and they both pulled him out of his chair.

"All right, all right!" Jiraiya said as he laughed. He didn't fight with either of them as they pulled him out to the dance floor and only grinned from ear to ear.

Asuma and Kurenai were next, going up to dance only after Kurenai pretty much forced him into it. And once they were gone, Shisui realized that he was alone at the table with Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he wondered if Hana planned it that way.

"You're not going to join them?" Hiruzen asked, sipping on a drink as he did.

"Actually," Shisui started. "I might not get the opportunity again and I have some questions for you."

Hiruzen seemed to be expecting that as he let out a tired sigh and rubbed one of his temples.

"Yes, I'm sure you do."

"Did you know who I was when Itachi and I first met with you?" he asked. Figured it was probably a good idea not to waste any time since he had no idea when the rest of the group would be coming back to the table.

"Yes," Hiruzen said plainly.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you were there for work and I didn't find it a good idea to distract you from your investigation by bringing up your father," Hiruzen answered. He didn't seem nervous or anxious. He just seemed tired.

"So you knew him then?" Shisui asked. He knew it was a stupid question. Obviously, Hiruzen knew his father if he chose to make the man Hana's godfather. But it was the only question that came to mind.

"I knew him very well," Hiruzen said with a nod. "There were six of us in that group and news of your father's accident hit us all hard. The only blessing was that Torifu was not alive when it happened. He would have mourned your father every day for years if he was."

Shisui worked his jaw, trying to reach for the next question at the top of his lungs.

"If you were so close with my father, then why weren't you ever around when I was a kid?"

There was an unmistakable sadness on Hiruzen's face. His brows knit together, the corners of his lips twitched downward, and he breathed a heavy sigh.

"I wanted to be around, Shisui. I did. But we talked about it, Fugaku and I that is, and we decided that it would be best if none of us were around. It was a safety measure more than anything else."

Shisui's stomach twisted.

"A safety measure for you or a safety measure for me?" he muttered.

Hiruzen looked away for a long moment, taking his time answering.

"You were safest with Fugaku. He was already an FBI agent and had people watching his house in case something came up. There was no safer place for you."

"But it was still a safety precaution for you then," Shisui deadpanned. "You were worried because my father was in counterterrorism and you thought that if you were around me that you'd get blown up too."

"Shisui," Hiruzen said sadly. "You can't blame me for that decision. Between Fugaku and Danzo, we were _all_ told that it wasn't safe. I had two children and—"

"Wait. Danzo?" Shisui blurted. He narrowed his eyes and leaned a little closer to see if he heard that right. "Danzo Shimura? What the hell does he have to do with any of this?"

Hiruzen blinked several times before he responded with a soft but confused, "Danzo was part of our group. He was a dear friend of Kagami's."

Shisui could have laughed. Like actually busted out laughing if he thought about it too long because what the actual fuck?

"You're kidding, right?"

Hiruzen frowned and shook his head. "No, Shisui. I'm not."

"Danzo Shimura is the Chief of Police and absolutely hates my guts," Shisui began. He knew he shouldn't have been talking about work, but this wasn't really work related per se. This was family related. "He's had it out for me since day one and has called me a sorry excuse for an agent—and an Uchiha…"

He muttered the last part under his breath. He had wondered at the time why Danzo chose to insult him by saying he was a poor excuse for an Uchiha, but now? Now it made a little bit of sense… If Danzo knew his father, then certainly that was why he said it. He just didn't understand why the man would stoop to such lows if Kagami was once his friend?

"Danzo has always been harsh. I'm sure he doesn't hate you. It's likely just very difficult seeing you," Hiruzen tried. "You look _so_ much like your father after all."

Shisui could feel his jaw begin to tighten.

"So Danzo told you and everyone else that being around me wasn't safe then, huh?"

Hiruzen rubbed his temple again.

"I know how that must seem."

"Yeah," Shisui muttered as he crossed his arms, unsure of how to feel anymore.

Suddenly there was a hand anchoring itself to Shisui's shoulder and he clenched his jaw, thinking about how his life could have been different if Danzo Shimura didn't open his fat mouth.

"Shisui," Hiruzen said, squeezing his shoulder. "I'm sorry that we weren't around for you while you were growing up. But for what this is worth, Fugaku did an excellent job and I think—I _know_ that Kagami would have been proud of you."

Whether or not Hiruzen knew it, that hurt. The words made his chest burn and stomach twist. And the only thing Shisui could do was nod and brush his thumb over the clasp of his watch.

"It would have been nice to see you grow up with Hana and Asuma," Hiruzen went on.

Shisui considered asking Hiruzen about that. He considered asking if he had ever met them before as a child, but he didn't get the chance, and he was almost thankful for it.

Hana walked over to them, face flushed from laughter and with her hand in her hair, pushing it back from her face. It looked like it didn't matter if her hair lay flat or hung in wild waves. It seemed that she was unable to keep herself from messing with it when she was anxious or concerned.

"Done so soon?" Hiruzen asked as she reached their table. She didn't sit down but lingered behind Shisui's chair as she spoke to her father.

"Not quite. I was wondering if I could steal Shisui for a minute. It looks like you're in the middle of an important conversation and—"

"We were just finishing up," Shisui said before she could go on.

He took one last sip of his drink and stood up. Then without thinking better of it, he slipped his hand in Hana's and pulled her out to the dance floor.

"You okay?" Hana asked when they were out of earshot of her father.

"Yeah," he murmured. "I just have more questions, but they're not ones your dad can answer."

"I'm sorry," she said. And despite the loudness of the music, he could tell that she genuinely meant it.

He gave her a tight smile and squeezed her hand a little tighter before he let it go.

"Don't worry about it," he said.

Hana sighed but didn't press it and instead guided them over to where Asuma and Kurenai were casually dancing with other partygoers.

He tried to loosen up after that, dancing and cracking jokes with the others. And after enough time, he found himself actually having a good time and getting along with Asuma and Kurenai. He even managed to not waste another thought on Danzo Shimura or Hiruzen Sarutobi.

And then the music shifted to a slower song and everyone started to pair off.

Shisui could just _see_ the thoughts churning in Hana's head probably before she even realized what those thoughts were and he intervened before she could overthink things any further.

He slipped one arm around her waist and used his free hand to take and hold hers, swaying her along with the music.

A breathy laugh came out from the back of her throat as she looked at their feet and placed her other hand on his shoulder.

"You good?" he asked, trying to get her to look at him.

"Yeah," she said, even though her voice was strained. "You're just… You're really good at this."

He raised an eyebrow above the other and said, "at dancing? Sasuke always says I look like an idiot when I dance, but it's nice to know that _someone_ appreciates my talents."

She laughed freely this time and finally looked up at him, hazel eyes meeting dark ones and bringing his attention to that phantom flutter in his stomach.

"We won't get into the dancing," she started, the corner of her eyes crinkling with that pretty smile she wore. "But you're good at _this_."

"Being a wedding date?" he pressed with a chuckle.

"That too," she admitted as she stood a little closer while they swayed to the music. "I don't know how to put it. You're just good at this. You're good at dealing with my obnoxious family, you're good at talking to strangers and making them smile, you're good at joking around with Asuma—which really is much harder than it seems and…" she trailed off and laughed under her breath, almost as if in spite of herself. "I don't know. I guess you're just good at making people like you."

A sudden calmness washed over him. He wasn't sure if that was the right word, but it was the best he could come up with. He felt an undeniable ease at her words, a relaxing one that made the tension leave his shoulders and soften his smug grin into a softer, less noticeable smile.

"Yeah?" he asked with a voice softer than a feather. "Did I make _you_ like me?"

She very clearly had not been expecting that as her hazel eyes flickered to his and her lips parted in surprise.

He patiently waited for her response, easily holding her gaze with his own and moving her to the soft music.

Then eventually she said a quiet, barely audible, "would it scare you off if I said yes?"

He could feel his smile grow without his permission and he pressed his hand a little more into her lower back.

"No. That's kinda the answer I was hoping for," he admitted with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

She let out an embarrassed laugh and looked down at their feet again, cheeks flushed and drawing attention to her freckles.

He liked her. A lot.

A lot more than he initially realized too. He liked how she was easygoing and unapologetic in her beliefs. He liked how she wasn't high-strung and always worried about what she looked like. He liked how quickly she smiled and how easily he could make her cheeks flush.

He just really liked spending time with her and how well they meshed.

And goddamn did it feel to come to that realization.

After the Yumi thing, he really felt like he'd never feel that way again. He just condemned himself to one-night-stands and a life of shallow relationships.

Who the hell would have thought that the first girl to make Shisui feel like his old self again would have been a girl who was the exact opposite of his "type" in every way imaginable? (Probably Itachi)

The slow song came to an end and then a quicker paced one took its place. His hand lingered on her lower back for a beat longer than necessary before he pulled it away and slipped his hand in hers.

She looked up at him through her lashes and let him pull her back over to the group they had been dancing with moments ago and gave him a shy smile.

She didn't let go even when Asuma saw them walking over, hand in hand, and gave them a knowing grin.

* * *

After Tsunade and Dan cut the cake and a little after the dancing resumed, Hana decided that it was time to leave. While she was having fun and enjoying herself, she was tired and wanted to get to work on her article. So she started to make her rounds and say goodbye to everyone.

First, there was Tsunade and Jiraiya. They were the difficult ones to say bye to because they were both a little drunk. And while Hana would have loved to stay and corner Jiraiya for some answers about Orochimaru, it wasn't worth asking him those sorts of questions while he was intoxicated and surrounded by lifelong friends, so she decided to save that for another day.

Then there was Asuma and Kurenai. They were getting ready to leave too, so it had been pretty easy to say goodbye to them. And aside from Asuma teasing her for her painfully obvious crush on Shisui, it was quick and easy.

But then there was her father and Hana dreaded saying goodbye to him all night because she had watched his conversation with Shisui when it was just the two of them at the table, and she could tell that her father's words really upset him.

But she couldn't just leave without saying goodbye to him, so she gritted her teeth and prepared herself for the worst.

And of _course,_ when they reached her father, he was engaged in a conversation with Tobirama Senju. Because this wasn't already hard enough as it was. Just add the most intimidating man on the planet to the mixture, right? Why the hell not?

"Hey, we're heading out," Hana said, interrupting their conversation by the bar as the music continued to bump loudly in the other room.

"Of course," her father said. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Then he gave Shisui a tight smile and shook his hand.

"It was nice seeing you," Shisui said in a strained voice.

Hana bit down on the back of her bottom lip, wanting to just ease the tension and pull Shisui away before things could get any more awkward.

"Shisui, before you go," her father started. "There's someone I'd like to introduce you to."

Shisui quickly shot Hana a look from the corner of his eye but there wasn't anything she could do for him.

"I'm sure you already know who he is, but allow me to properly introduce you to Tobirama Senju," her father said, patting the younger Senju brother on the back. Hana narrowed her eyes and watched as the two shook hands. What the hell was her father doing?

"It's good to see you, Shisui," Tobirama said in a deep voice. "You probably don't remember me, but we met when you were very young."

Shisui didn't say anything. He just quietly stared, eyes flitting between her father and the younger Senju brother.

"Your father was a friend of mine," Tobirama said.

"Oh," Shisui said, though it came out as more of an exhale than an actual response.

"Saru was telling me about the work you do. It's quite impressive," Tobirama went on, not at all put off by Shisui's nervous energy. "You should know that your father would have been very proud of you."

Shisui was quiet, hesitation embarrassingly obvious. But after a moment, he exhaled and gave Tobirama a weak smile.

"Thank you. I'd like to think so too."

Hana watched the way a tiny smile ghosted across the Senju's lips and she sighed in relief. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but whatever it was, she was glad that the exchange turned out better than that.

She said goodbye to her father one last time and walked with Shisui to his car in comfortable silence.

"Thanks for coming," Hana said. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and busied herself with looking out the window.

"Thanks for inviting me," he said. His voice sounded light, so that was a good sign.

"I hope my dad didn't upset you too much?" she phrased it as a question and held her breath to risk a look at him.

He didn't look upset, just a little tired, evident from the way his shoulders slumped forward and the way he used his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

"Nah," he said finally, looking away from the road for a brief moment to look at her instead. "Everything worked out just fine."

She was thankful for the darkness of the car because she could feel her face get hot for the millionth time that night. His words from when they danced earlier kept playing on repeat in the back of her head and it made her heart slam against her ribcage.

How was she supposed to come clean to him after that? How was she supposed to look him in the eye and tell him that she initially had tried to use him for a story?

Hana had never really been the self-loathing type. She was steadfast in her convictions and didn't care who got hurt in the process of getting the right story. She was a firm believer that the ends always justified the means.

But that was before Shisui crept up on her and managed to turn her into a bumbling idiot who was afraid to tell the truth…

She rubbed her forehead and mentally cursed herself out for being such an idiot.

The guilt she felt was downright smothering, a foreign feeling of regret mixed with something else that she couldn't quite place.

She'd lose him if she came clean. That much was certain.

He'd never forgive her and he'd go back to sleeping around with bombshells and blondes and she'd be stuck working her pathetic job at _Byakugan Times, _writing about celebrities and red carpet events and other bullshit that she couldn't give less of a shit about if she tried.

The thought was enough to create a tightness in the back of her throat that would have made it impossible to speak without bursting into regretful tears.

So the fact that Shisui was content to only listen to the radio and GPS as he drove back to her apartment was a godsend.

It gave her more than enough time to compose herself and to ease the shaking of her fingertips.

When he eventually got to her apartment complex he pulled into the visitor's lot as if he meant to come in, but kept the car running which made it seem like he was going to leave, and she didn't know what to make of that.

She cleared her throat and turned her head to finally look at him.

"Thanks again for coming," she said with a forced smile.

He cracked a familiar grin. "Anytime."

Now was her chance. Now was her opportunity to come out and say it. All she had to do was just take a breath, open her mouth, and say—

Shisui leaned forward, rested his hand on the back of her neck, and pulled her in for a tender kiss before she could say it.

Hana let her eyes flutter shut as she kissed him, reaching her hands out to rest them against the planes of his chest. He tilted his head to the side, deepening the kiss and bringing his hand from the back of her neck to cradle the side of her face.

She felt hot all over, despite the shortness of her dress or the deep cut of its neckline. Everywhere he touched she felt hot and it made her completely unable to think straight.

Fucking hell, she wanted him. She didn't care if she had to climb across the damn seats and do it in the car like a couple of teenagers. All she knew was that she wanted him and that she wanted him _badly_.

She tugged on his tie as he kissed her, loosening it until she could undo it and start unbuttoning his shirt.

She could feel his smile against her lips and he pulled back with a soft chuckle, bringing both hands up to her face and pulling back just enough so all she could focus on were those dark, dark eyes.

"In a rush?" he teased.

She laughed in spite of herself, feeling her face get hot again.

"Let's go upstairs," she said under her breath with a mischievous smile.

His eyes glinted and he let out a long sigh and pulled further back, releasing her with a shake of his head.

She blinked dumbly.

Had she missed something?

"I should go," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.

In an instant, the image of Yumi flashed behind the backs of her eyes. Yumi, in all her glory. Yumi, who was small and petite with curves that a lingerie model would kill for. Yumi, who had told her that Shisui wasn't actually interested in her at all.

Yumi, Shisui's drop-dead gorgeous ex-girlfriend, who was right.

Hana knew she was probably jumping to conclusions, but damnit all, what the hell was she supposed to think when she was _literally_ throwing herself at the guy she'd been having casual sex with only for him to tell her that he had to go?

"Oh," she breathed. She buried her hand in her hair and impatiently shoved it away from her face, all too aware of that fucking _lump_ in the back of her throat again.

She grabbed her phone and purse and unbuckled the seatbelt, thinking of all the ways she'd made a complete and total idiot out of herself.

"Thanks for driving," she said, promptly getting out of the car without even so much as a glance at Shisui, and (slamming) swinging the door shut.

"Wait, wait, wait—Hana! That's not what I meant!"

She didn't turn around for the sake of her own dignity. She guessed that their conversation earlier when they were slow dancing was just because of the booze and the heat of the moment. Of course it didn't mean anything.

Why _would_ it mean anything when he could date a chick that looked like Yumi?

"Hana, that came out wrong," Shisui's voice was behind her and she wondered why he was wasting his time with trying to make her feel better? What was the point if he was over the whole "fuck-buddy" thing?

"You're good," she said. Her voice was icier than she intended and she cursed herself under her breath.

Way to play it cool, Sarutobi. Way to play it cool…

She was only a few more strides away from her front door. Then she'd be home free and could give Genma her disaster phone call and beg him to come over and save what was left of her dignity with booze and bad horror movies.

"Hey," Shisui insisted.

His hand was on her elbow and he pulled her to an abrupt halt right in front of the sanctuary of her front door.

So much for her dignity…

She squeezed her eyes shut to compose herself and sucked in a sharp breath before she turned around.

She could hold herself together for a few more seconds.

Easy.

But then she looked at Shisui and between his big dark eyes, windblown curly hair, and earnest expression, she was done for.

Despite it being dark out, and despite it being only a couple hours to midnight, the summer air was still hot and sticky, and that combined with the way he looked at her made it difficult to breathe.

"Do you always get so skittish when there's been a misunderstanding?" he asked quietly, offering her a sheepish smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.

"I didn't think there was a misunderstanding," she said. "I invited you up and you said you should go. Where's the misunderstanding?"

The words stung her tongue and she wasn't sure if it was the humidity from the summer air or the embarrassment, but she could feel sweat begin to break out on her chest and forehead.

"It was somewhere between me saying I should go and you _bolting_ out of my car," he said with his sheepish smile falling into a sort of grimace.

She crossed her arms and stood up as straight as she could.

When she did that, she almost stood at direct eye level with him, but he still had an inch or two on her—which was one of the first times in Hana's life that she had dealt with a guy actually being taller than her.

"Okay then," she started. Her eyes flickered around the quiet apartment complex. No one was coming or going so it was quiet and secluded. And save for the light of the apartment complex at her back, it was almost entirely black out.

"If you hadn't panicked you would've heard why I said I should go," he said softly, reaching forward and resting his hands on the tops of her shoulders and pulling her a little closer so she didn't feel so far away.

"All right. So…?"

She wondered if Genma would still be awake to answer his phone after this incoming disaster.

But there wasn't a disaster?

Shisui just laughed under his breath and shook his head.

"I like you," he admitted so, _so_ easily. "And I don't want this to just be about sex anymore."

Oh no. Oh no no. This was some weird dream she was having. There was no way that he actually—

"I thought if I came upstairs with you that you would just assume that all I wanted was sex. And I was going to say that in the car but you ran away, so now I have to say this after you've just had an internal meltdown, which is not nearly as romantic as I was hoping for."

Her mouth was suddenly dry and (not for the first time tonight) she felt like a complete, bumbling idiot.

"O-oh," she stuttered.

He laughed again, free and amused and way too endearing.

"You know, I used to think that you were calm, cool, and collected. But now I realize that you're really just a hot mess ninety-nine percent of the time," he teased, grinning wide enough that a dimple pierced his cheek.

Despite all of it and despite how stupid she felt, she cracked a smile and gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah," she admitted. "That sounds about right."

He continued to grin and then brought one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer until she stumbled into his chest.

"Well now that my deep, dark secret is out," he started, leaning down to put his lips right against the shell of her ear. "Do you still want me to come up?"

She temporarily hid her flushed, embarrassed face in his chest and then sucked in a breath of hot summer air before she pulled back.

"Nope, I changed my mind," she remarked, backing out of his embrace. She shrugged her shoulders and pulled her keys out of her purse and took a few steps backward until she was certain that the door was right at her back.

Shisui's lips parted in surprise and his dark eyes widened, actually believing her for a split second there, but then she cracked a smile and he knew better.

"Ouch," he said. He walked over to her just as she turned her back to start unlocking the door. "Now that was just mean."

"So was making me think that you weren't actually interested," she said right back.

"That was not my intention," he said. Even though he stood behind her, she could still hear the smile in his voice and it made her stomach flutter.

"No?" she looked over her shoulder and shot him a glance, catching the way he gave her another sheepish smile.

"No," he insisted as they made their way through the building and up the stairs to her individual apartment.

"You'll just have to make it up to me," she quipped with a shrug once she unlocked the door and they were inside.

"I must really like you if I'm agreeing to spend a night in this sauna you call your apartment," he muttered under his breath, already unbuttoning the top few buttons of his dress shirt and pushing the sleeves up to his elbows.

She couldn't help it when she erupted into soft laughter. For as cool as Shisui played things, when it came to being hot he was almost like a child.

She didn't say anything, just grabbed his hand and guided him down the dark hallway of the apartment until they reached the door that led to her bedroom. She then pushed the door open and flicked the lights on before promptly kicking the door shut so the deliciously cold air wouldn't escape the confines of her bedroom.

Shisui groaned in relief, sitting on the edge of her bed and leaning back onto his elbows.

"Oh thank god," he said as his eyes flitted to the window unit that was set to HIGH.

"Yeah, it was getting a little ridiculous," she said. She leaned down and unbuckled her shoes, kicking them off by the closet against the back wall. She hoped that her room was neat enough for Shisui. She learned after being at his place a few times that he was kind of a neat freak, and she most certainly was not. Most of the apartment was littered with newspapers and photographs, and she knew it drove Shisui slightly insane.

But her room was cleaner now. Clothes weren't lying around on the floor and she threw out the really old newspapers that she didn't need anymore. Her cream carpet was vacuumed and her bed was actually made.

With the exception of the nightstand that had a few papers and a water bottle on it, her room was pretty clean.

"I don't know how you did it for so long," he said, still reclining on her bed and watching her with eyes that glinted in the muted light from the standing corner lamp.

"I took cold showers every morning," she said easily. She walked away from her closet and started to take her earrings out, setting them down on the nightstand.

She could feel Shisui's eyes on her the entire time and it did things that made her feel hot all over, despite the chilly air.

Hana bit down on the back of her bottom lip, acutely aware of the way the rest of her nerves began to fray at the edges.

She casually walked over to where Shisui was lazily watching her as he reclined onto the bed.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and unzip me?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

A devilish smirk slithered onto his face as he sat straight up. He rested his hands on either side of her hips and carefully turned her around so her back was to him.

She felt him stand up after that, her back almost against his chest as he found the zipper and dragged it down with a maddeningly slow pace. Once it was all the way down, his hands slid underneath the straps at her shoulders and pushed them down.

She fended off her smirk by pressing her lips tightly together. Then she slipped her arms out the straps and Shisui's hands pushed the dress down over her hips until it pooled around her ankles.

Because of the low cut of the skater dress, Hana hadn't bothered with a bra. And honestly, it wasn't like she even needed one since she wasn't particularly busty, so she didn't think anything of it.

But Shisui did, obviously not expecting that as once he pushed the dress over her hips he seethed through his teeth and wasted no time in leaning forward to kiss the crook of her neck as his hands glided across her exposed body, stopping to roam over the peaks of her breasts and to pinch the sensitive skin there until she was sighing in contentment and leaning entirely against his frame, angling her neck so he could kiss her easier.

He kissed the sensitive spot on her neck until her eyes were fluttering shut and she was groaning under his touch, arching her back as his fingers ghosted across her body and easily pulled the lace thong she wore off.

Deciding that they weren't exactly on even footing, she whirled around and kissed him hard on the mouth.

He brought one hand to the back of her head, knotting his fingers in her hair and used his other hand to gently brush his thumb down her back.

She anxiously undid the buttons on his dress shirt, trying to refrain from ripping the damn thing off of him.

There was just too much goddamn fabric in the way and she was getting annoyed.

And then when she finally got the dress shirt completely unbuttoned, she actually _whined_ at the realization that he had a t-shirt on beneath it.

She felt his smirk against her lips before she saw it, and if she didn't want him so badly she might have asked him what was so funny.

But thankfully, Shisui was quick when he put his hand to the back of his neck and pulled the t-shirt off with one fluid movement. But before she could sit back and enjoy the sight of his muscled chest and toned abs, he closed the gap between them and kissed her again, slanting his lips against hers in a deep kiss that made her legs weak.

She nipped at his bottom lip and a low groan came from the back of his throat. The sound went straight to the heat between her legs and she wasted no time in undoing his belt and getting him out of his pants and boxer briefs.

She pushed him back onto the bed and climbed on top of him until he was flat on his back and she hovered over him, kissing her way down his neck.

"Try not to leave any marks where people can see," Shisui said, his voice rough and low.

Hana shot him an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry," she squeaked.

He propped himself up on his elbow again, eyes twinkling.

"Don't be. I like it," he quipped, leaning up to press a quick kiss to her pulse point. "But my boss doesn't. So be discreet."

Her eyes fluttered shut as he continued to press scorching hot kisses all down her neck and chest. She hummed in approval, _almost_ too distracted with how good it felt to notice the way he sat up and brought an arm around her waist to likely flip them so he was on top.

But she noticed what he was about to do, so she smirked and shoved him back down into the pillows.

"Ooh okay," he said with glinting eyes that roamed across her naked body. "Gonna rough me up, Sarutobi?"

She didn't say anything back, she just pressed her lips to his in a hot kiss and bit down just hard enough to make him groan and squirm a little bit beneath her. While he was distracted with the rough kiss, she took the opportunity to reach down and wrap her fingers around him, smirking when his hips twitched at her touch.

He brought his hands to her ass and squeezed hard. She was used to that by now, as Shisui's grip was _strong, _and when he was really hot and bothered he was likely to forget his own strength.

But she didn't mind. She kinda liked it when he left little bruises on the inside of her thighs and around her hips.

She broke their kiss and moved to the shell of his ear, grazing her teeth there and making him shudder.

"Stop teasing," he whined, hips twitching with every stroke of her hand.

Shisui was always so sensitive, and for someone who got off on teasing her, he hated to wait.

And he was already so hard that he was just beginning to lose control of the strength of his grip.

"Ask me nicely," she purred against his ear, tightening her hold just enough to make him gasp for breath.

"_Fuck_," he hissed, anchoring both of his hands on her hips and squeezing just hard enough for his fingerprints to begin to bruise her.

For as impatient as he was (because seriously, her teasing him never lasted all that long because he was so insistent) and for how little time actually passed, she was also already eager for more. Maybe it was the fact that he admitted that he liked her or maybe it was something else, but all he had to do was kiss her or squeeze her hips or pinch her breast to make her desperately want more.

And he was usually more attentive than that. He normally liked to take his time and kiss every single inch of exposed skin before finally giving her what she really wanted. This time was different. This time there was new energy between them.

He tried again to wrap one arm around her waist so he could flip them over, but she was faster than that and planted both her hands on his chest to push him back down.

He huffed as he watched her smirk down at him.

"Ask me nicely," she said again, batting her eyelashes to achieve prime self-satisfaction.

He didn't try to flip them over again, but he did push himself up until he was sitting up and leaning against her pillows so their chests almost touched. Then he brought his hand to the back of her head to grab her hair and pull her head back just enough so that she was looking up at an angle and so he could kiss that spot right below her pulse point and make her squirm in his lap.

While he did that, he brought his other hand down between her legs, slowly circling his thumb right _there_ and making her legs quiver before he slipped a finger inside and she whimpered.

He released her hair so she no longer looking up, but continued to kiss and suck at the sensitive spot at her neck all as he very slowly slipped a second finger in.

"You're so wet," he hummed against her ear. "Maybe _you_ should ask _me_ nicely."

In any other situation, she would have been too prideful to leave it at that. She would have teased him until he was _begging_ to let him fuck her. She'd already done it once before after that night she came over during the rainstorm. It would have been easy to do it again.

But she wanted him too badly to do that, especially because his fingers played her so easily and she was already rocking her hips in time with his hand.

"Please," she gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck.

His dark eyes glinted and he gave her a wicked smirk.

"Please what?"

She tried to glare at him, but his fingers were too good and she shuddered in his arms, already panting.

"Shisui, _please_," she whined. "I want you."

He couldn't leave it at that, the smug bastard. His eyes twinkled although he seemed to forget that she could feel how hard he was against her inner thigh. She wasn't the only one desperate to go further and he damn well knew that.

"Tell me what you want," he pressed.

Hana had enough and groaned, looking him straight in the eye and saying a frustrated, "I want you to fuck me."

"All you had to do was ask," he teased, slanting his lips against hers and kissing her deeply, slipping his tongue into her mouth at the same time he shifted his hips forward until he was completely inside of her.

He swallowed the low moan that came from her mouth and her legs already started to shake.

Shisui was big and the first few moments were always a little uncomfortable—albeit in the most wonderful way possible. But she was always a little tense at first, and he seemed to always know it because he always kissed her a little softer and circled that spot between her legs with his thumb to make her feel even better.

And then once she managed to get a grip on things, it was easier.

This time was no different.

The only thing different thing was that he was so close this time.

Amongst all the different positions they tried, they'd never been quite this close, what with their chests practically pressing against each other and each of them holding the other in their arms.

It was more intimate than the other times and even though they were _literally_ in the middle of sex, her stomach still managed to flutter and her heart still pounded away in her ears.

She took control of the pace, rocking her hips slowly at first, taking every last inch of him inside her.

He kept one arm around her waist while his other hand moved to her hips, guiding them so he was at the just the right angle to hit all the right spots.

Her mouth fell open and her eyes fluttered shut as she rode him.

_Fuck_, going so deep and so slow was a new thing for them and she wasn't sure what it was like for Shisui, but for her, it was better than the fast, rough way she was accustomed to.

She could just feel every single movement and her senses reached new heights as she held onto control of the pace for as long as she could. She knew Shisui liked to be hard and fast, and while she loved that, she wanted to enjoy whatever the fuck _this_ was for as long as she could.

Her eyes fluttered open and she moaned when Shisui guided her hips down at a new angle that was somehow deeper and even more mind-blowing than before.

When he came into focus his chest was flushed red and his eyes flitted everywhere, from her eyes to her lips, to the slope of her neck, the hills of her breasts, or the curve of her waist. He just seemed to be drinking in the very sight of her, and she could feel her own chest flush at the way he looked at her.

He guided her hips down again at the same angle and she couldn't help it when another moan escaped her lips. She almost felt like she should have been embarrassed at how easy he was doing this to her, but it felt too goddamn good for her to care.

Shisui cradled her face and brought her closer for a hot, open-mouthed kiss that she was happy to oblige with.

She waited for him to inevitably pick up the pace to make things a little rougher and faster, but he didn't. He just kissed her hard and slow, tracing the contours of her body with his hands.

He grunted when she whimpered at the way he guided her hips down and squeezed her thighs harder than he ever had before.

"Shisui," she whimpered against his mouth as her senses continued to reach new heights and begin to blur the edges of her vision.

He groaned and kissed her neck all while continuing to guide her hips at that perfect angle, still rocking her hips slowly and deeply with every movement.

"_Fuck_," she seethed through her teeth, wrapping her arms tighter around him and leaving scratches down his back.

He moaned when she scratched him and pulled her hips down hard, making her gasp and scratch him more as the delicious friction overwhelmed just about everything that wasn't _him_.

"Hana," he groaned under his breath, holding her tight against his chest, picking up the speed not enough to for her to consider it "fast" but enough for her to realize that at that speed and that angle, she was all of a few seconds away from coming completely undone.

She wasn't sure what came over her, but she brought her hands up to cradle his face as he fanned the flames of her own pleasure. She couldn't explain it. She just wanted to look at him as she reached her peak.

"I-I," _fucking christ _she couldn't even get the words out. It was all too much, the slowness of their sex, the way he held her so tightly against his chest, the fact that his pupils were blown and eyes were still so attentive to every little aspect of her body. She couldn't last. Not with all of that.

And then, with her lips parted as she tried to tell him but failed to do so, a low moan escaped her lips and her legs tightened impossibly around his hips as she rode out the high of her orgasm.

She couldn't think, she could hardly see, and she most certainly couldn't speak. All she could do was anchor herself back to reality by gripping his shoulders as she started to come down from her high.

He wasn't far behind her.

He came just as hard as she did and squeezed her hips as if he was hanging on for dear life, pulling out just in time.

She panted and pushed her hair back, trying to catch her breath as she got off of him and collapsed onto her side of the bed.

Shisui also panted as he tried to catch his own breath, wiping away the sweat that beaded on his forehead.

A sudden, unexplainable, wave of embarrassment settled over Hana. Would Shisui think something was up with what just happened? He didn't _seem_ to mind that the pace was slower, even though it wasn't their usual thing.

What if he thought—

He got up from the bed after another quiet moment and then proceeded to casually leave the bedroom without a single word.

Once again, the absolute worst-case scenario filled her head.

He was weirded out by how close and slow and _intimate_ things just were and he was going to leave because of that. Great. Wonderful. Way to go, Hana.

But then after a few moments, he reentered the bedroom and walked over to the bed and lied back down beside her.

"You're not leaving?" she blurted, slipping beneath the blankets of her bed and drawing them up around her chest.

Shisui narrowed his eyes and rolled over onto his side so he faced her directly.

"Was I suppose to?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"What? No! I just thought that maybe—I don't know. Maybe it wasn't that good for you and—"

"You thought I was gonna leave? After _that?_" he asked, eyes widening. "Are you insane?"

"Well you got up and walked out just now!" she said, feeling her face heating up.

Shisui blinked at her once, twice, three times, before he erupted into a fit of easygoing laughter.

"Yeah," he said between fits of chuckles. "To clean up. Unless you wanted to cuddle all sticky in your nice clean sheets?"

Oh fucking hell, she was a goddamn mess, wasn't she? Her secrets had seriously driven her to the point of pure paranoia that she didn't even consider something so painfully obvious. She just assumed the worst because she was the one keeping secrets here.

"Let's pretend I never said that," she said as she pulled the blankets up to her face to hide her embarrassment.

Shisui just gave her that dazzling smile that made her feel like she was staring into the sun and he lied down beside her, wrapping an arm around her beneath the blankets and drawing her back against his chest.

"Why would I have left after _that?_" he asked.

"I assumed the worst," she admitted.

"Clearly," he said, though he didn't sound upset. He just chuckled and let out a sigh that gave away how tired he must have felt.

"I'm not going anywhere, Hana. Not unless you want me to," he said with a yawn.

Her heart fluttered and she rested her hand on top of his arm that was around her waist from the way he spooned her.

"Good to know," she said softly.

He said something that she didn't quite catch because he already was falling asleep, holding her in his arms and against his chest.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

So much for coming clean…

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

**_THANK YOU: Ki, Kellie, Honestlyxx, Random Stranger, & RavenMocker6 for your reviews! They are BEYOND appreciated. Like seriously. Thank you(:_**

**_Also. Y'all said you liked longer chapters so here we are lmao. There was no effing way I was making this chapter into 2 parts, so here we are._**

**_Anywho, drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(: Still can't believe that anyone is reading this lmao_**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Pls forgive me but it's football season so my updates will only continue to happen later and later on Sunday nights lmao**_

* * *

_Shisui was so cold. Almost painfully so._

_And it was so dark. He was surrounded by that godforsaken black velvet again._

_He moved his limbs to try and maneuver his way somewhere, anywhere that wasn't so dark and so cold. He could feel himself beginning to panic as the air supply dropped dangerously low._

_This was it. This was the end._

_His father died in a blast of fire and Shisui would die in a cold, black hell._

_If he could just move. If his limbs weren't so heavy maybe he could escape. Maybe he could break through. Maybe he could—_

Shisui sucked in a harsh breath, jolting awake until he was sitting up and gasping for air. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest as he took labored breaths. He ran his hands across his face as he caught his breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I almost forgot about that," came Hana's voice.

He opened his eyes and looked ahead at the closet door to try and compose himself.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Shisui mumbled. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back the urge to jump out of bed and get dressed and leave. It wasn't that he didn't want to stay with Hana. He absolutely did. It was just hard for him to not feel like he had to _run_ after one of those dreams.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

He sighed and forced himself to lie down beside her, relaxing on his back and looking at the ceiling.

"Yeah," he said, all too aware of the rawness in his throat.

Hana shifted so she was on her side facing him, and Shisui turned his head to the side to better look at her.

She looked terribly endearing with her sleepy hazel eyes and freckled face. He could feel the corner of his lips quirk upward as he looked at her, deciding to roll onto his side to face her more directly.

"Do you wake up like that every morning?" she asked, drawing the blankets up around her bare shoulders.

He pursed his lips together with a muted sighed.

"For the most part," he admitted. "Didn't start happening until Itachi and I got back to the city though."

He could see the parts moving together in her head, trying to assemble the pieces until she had a coherent story put together.

"Did something happen the last time you were here?" she asked curiously.

He worked his jaw. It wasn't something he liked talking about. And he knew he didn't have to. Hana wasn't even prying. She was just asking, as curiosity was in her nature.

But there was a part of him that wanted her to know and he couldn't really think of a good reason not to tell her. So…

"I almost drowned," he admitted.

Her eyes glinted.

"Oh," she said.

She could have said _'I knew it' _because not that long ago she asked if someone had tried to drown him and if that was why he woke up like that.

But she didn't. And he appreciated that more than he could ever articulate.

"It's kind of a long story. I don't know if you wanna listen to it," he said.

She inched a little closer to him and he could feel the tension begin to leave his shoulders.

"I'm a journalist," she said. "I love a good story."

He chuckled and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, smiling a little too hard when her cheeks flushed a pale pink and she bit down on her lip to hold back a smile.

"Fair enough," he said.

Now the only question was where to start…

"Last time Itachi and I were out here for an extended period of time we were working a case. The guy we were trying to catch was suspected to be working in a wealth management firm and was using that as his cover," he started, all the memories coming back in one continuous flood.

"I was dating Yumi at the time. She was finishing up her last couple of weeks at this firm and was about to start working at Terumi Wealth Management," he hesitated, noticing the crease between Hana's brows as he brought up his ex. "We thought the killer was at the firm she was working at, so I'm sure you can imagine what that was like."

"Yeah," Hana said with a little sigh. "I'm sure you were worried."

"You have no idea," he admitted. "We were collaborating with the white-collar division and there was this agent we worked really closely with named Mukai. He was great. He came up with a really solid lead that ended up being right.

"So Itachi and I went to arrest him the one night. It was a whole big thing because he knew we were coming and was next to impossible to find. Then Itachi and I ended up getting separated and I was on my own when I found him."

Shisui frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. He was already beginning to feel cold all over.

"The details are a little foggy, but I found him in his car. I tried to pull him out but somehow _I_ got pulled _in_.

"The guy just snapped. He started driving like a maniac. Going through stoplights, doubling the speed limit, hydroplaning a few times. And no matter what I did I couldn't make him stop. He completely and totally lost it."

Shisui stopped himself before he went on. With every word, he grew colder and colder.

"We ended up hydroplaning and going into Naka River. He managed to get out of the car almost right away but I didn't. I was stuck in there until it completely filled up with water. That was the only way I could get the door open. And even though I eventually managed to get out, it was too late and I blacked out right before I reached the surface."

Hana was deathly quiet but her eyes were wide and alert.

"Yeah," he muttered. "It was Mukai who dragged me out of the water and gave me CPR. He saw everything. Turns out he had been on a date and was taking a stroll along the river. With Yumi. Who was my girlfriend at the time."

"You've got to be shitting me," Hana deadpanned. She pushed herself up so she was leaning on her elbow, holding the blanket to her chest as she stared down at him in disbelief.

Shisui stayed lying down, wearing a bitter smirk.

"I know, right? The dude who was sleeping with my girlfriend was the one who saved my life."

Hana didn't say anything after that. She just continued to look at him in shock.

"Anyway, Itachi caught the guy not long after that. I was stuck sitting with the paramedics for a good hour before I got to confront Mukai and Yumi."

"What did you say?" she asked.

"You know, I don't totally remember. I think I asked Yumi if she was cheating on me," he chuckled in spite of himself and shook his head. "I ended up in a fight with Mukai after that. He actually kinda kicked my ass since I was still in shock, but I know I broke his nose."

"Wow," Hana muttered.

"Itachi and I kinda left the city after that. We went to Kiri, Kumo, actually spent a couple weeks in Suna too. The next time we came to Konoha was for the holidays and for whatever reason that was when I started having nightmares. But believe it or not, I'm actually better this time around. Last time I would hurt myself in my sleep. I'd wake up with scratches down my arms and broken and bloodied fingernails. At least I'm not doing that anymore," he admitted.

It felt good to get off his chest, even if he sounded a little like a loose cannon.

"Shisui," Hana said under her breath. There may have been a touch of sympathy in her voice, but what he primarily noticed was that there was a distinct lack of pity.

And that was definitely one hell of a relief. There was nothing worse than someone giving you that sad, pathetic, pity stare.

"Yeah. I'm sure now you see why I didn't want to tell you about it," he said.

Hana nodded and lied back down beside him, closer than before. She used the new closeness to rest one hand on his chest and rub soothing circles into his skin with her thumb.

"What about you?" he asked softly, reaching his arm out and loosely draping it around her.

"What about me?"

"Any god awful traumatic stories from Ame?" he asked, half serious, half joking

"Not really. I don't just don't like small spaces anymore since they make me feel like I'm in a prison cell, but aside from that, I think I processed it all pretty well," she started. Then she shrugged. "Maybe it's because my family bullied me into therapy when I came back all malnourished and slightly falling apart."

He shook his head.

"I think you might be slightly off your rocker," he teased.

She laughed and closed her eyes with a wistful sigh, tilting her head up towards the ceiling just enough so a beam of sunlight fell across her face and drew attention to her freckles.

"Sometimes if I close my eyes I can still feel the Ame rain on my face," she said softly.

He gave her a fond smile and hovered over her to kiss her on the lips, soft and slow and it was enough to make her arms ripple with gooseflesh.

He wasn't too proud to admit that he loved the fact he could get that sort of reaction out of her.

"Oh you're totally off your rocker," he quipped, still hovering over her and peppering her neck with kisses.

"Never said I wasn't," she remarked as she brought her hands up to the back of his head and twisted her fingers in his hair.

He took that as a signal to keep going and he was more than happy to oblige.

He took his time as he kissed his way down her neck, across her collarbone, and over to her shoulders until she was a shivering mess beneath him.

Then her phone buzzed hard and loud, startling them both.

"Who's texting you so early?" he asked as he reached over and plucked her phone off the nightstand.

"Probably Genma wanting to know when I'll send him my article for edits," she muttered. She adjusted the sheet around her chest as she sat up and took one quick look at the screen.

Shisui saw it right away, the sudden tension in her shoulders and the crease between her brows as she read the text.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

She cleared her throat and handed the phone back to Shisui with a forced smile.

"Yeah," she said.

"Was it Genma?" he pressed after he set it back down on the nightstand. He didn't really care who was texting Hana so early, but he was curious as to why she reacted the way she did.

"Uh yeah," she said. She sat up abruptly and shot him a grin that he wasn't sure was real or not. "I'm starving. Want to grab breakfast? I know of this super cute place by my work."

His eyes lingered on her, reading the anxiety in her expression and body language. Her shoulders were just pulled a little too taut and the smile was forced, evident from the way it didn't crinkle the corners of her eyes the way it normally did.

"Hey," he said, sitting up and snaking his arms around her hips. "Everything okay?"

She leaned into him, her back against his chest and he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her freckled shoulder.

She sighed and leaned further into him, and without even realizing that he was doing it, he tightened his arms around her.

"Yeah. I just have a lot of shit to do and I'd rather not think about it."

He nodded, not really believing her but not wanting to push it either. If she didn't want to talk about it, then she didn't have to talk about it.

"All right. Breakfast it is."

* * *

"You hear from Hana at all?" Raido asked as Genma drove them back to their apartment. The whole meeting up with his parents thing did not go well. They got stuck there for the night after his dad had too much to drink and so Raido and Genma spent the night hiding out in his parents' basement the way they did back in high school, drowning out the awkwardness with booze and beer.

Which was precisely why Genma was driving them home. Raido was still too hungover and he was worried that he'd puke all over himself if he drove.

"Nah," Genma said. He grabbed a styrofoam coffee cup and took a swig of it and Raido envied his ability to never get hungover.

"I take it that means whatever she had to do yesterday went well," he said absentmindedly. He hoped that talking about their friend would help distract him from the churning in his stomach.

It didn't.

"No," Genma said between sips of coffee. "It means she didn't do what she was supposed to do."

"What exactly was she supposed to do anyway?" Raido muttered. It wasn't like Hana to be so nervous and anxious the way she had been Friday night. And it also wasn't like her to keep something from him.

"Better if you don't know," Genma teased with a knowing smirk.

Raido's stomach churned again, though he wasn't sure if it was from his hangover or from his body's involuntary reaction to seeing Genma smile.

"It has to do with Shisui. I know that much," Raido said with a groan, putting his hand to his stomach when they hit a pothole.

"If you're gonna puke tell me now so I can pull over," Genma remarked.

"_Ugh_," he whined. "I'm too old for hangovers."

"Remember high school? We could drink an entire fifth of vodka and not even have a headache in the morning," Genma said.

The thought of vodka was enough to make Raido almost gag.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Genma said. He looked over at Raido quickly, tearing his gaze between the road and him, and planted a strong hand on his shoulder. "There's a rest stop a couple miles ahead. Just hang in there."

Genma's hand on him (_was his thumb rubbing circles into his shoulder?) _was less than helpful because his traitorous stomach fluttered and leaped and that did _not_ mix well with the state of stale alcohol sloshing around in there.

Raido steadied his breathing, waiting for the wave of nausea to pass. And honestly, if he thought it would help, he would have made himself puke already. But he knew that there was nothing but bile to throw up, so he just tried his hardest to fight it.

"Can I help?" Genma asked.

Why was his hand still anchored on Raido's shoulder?

"No, I'm fine," he said when the wave of nausea finally passed and he sighed in relief.

Genma didn't look convinced but he didn't push the matter any further and Raido was grateful for that.

They sat in delicious silence until Genma pulled into the rest stop and Raido took the opportunity to go into the gas station and grab a ginger ale to soothe his stomach.

Genma was filling up the car when he walked out and Raido was already twisting the cap of the soda bottle and sipping it.

His hair was pulled back into a loose bun and Raido should have averted his eyes for the sake of his uneasy stomach, but he just couldn't.

It wasn't fair to look so effortlessly handsome. Genma was in a pair of day old jeans and a sun-bleached shirt, yet he still looked amazing.

Even if Genma happened to be interested in him (which he wasn't, Raido was sure of that) his lifelong friend was completely and totally out of his league and it fucking sucked.

"What?" Genma asked.

Raido's heart skipped a beat. He'd been staring again, hadn't he?

"Nothing," Raido said as he busied himself with his ginger ale.

"I've got something on my face, don't I?" Genma asked. He rubbed his cheek and Raido's chest warmed. He smirked and shook his head but didn't say anything. He just climbed into the car and waited for Genma to start the car back up.

"Feeling better?" Genma asked when he climbed back in.

"Eh," Raido said with another sigh, trying to hold off the incoming wave of nausea.

"We have saltines and aspirin at home," Genma said. "And I can run out and pick you more ginger ale if you need."

For a guy who was always known for terrorizing his former roommates (Ebisu had thousands of horror stories back when they roomed together in college), Genma definitely was a mother hen when it came to Raido.

"I'm fine," Raido said with a chuckle. "I'm just getting old."

Genma smirked and rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb, something Raido had seen his friend do countless times when flirting with someone in a bar.

"Got something to say, Shiranui?" Raido asked with a laugh.

"Nah," Genma said after a moment. He pulled his free hand away from his lip and anchored it once again on Raido's shoulder.

Only this time his thumb was _definitely_ rubbing circles into his shoulder.

* * *

It was Mukai's turn to buy breakfast but he was useless when it came to waking up on time and somehow Yumi ended up being the one walking to the café.

It was a cute place by both her work and only a few blocks from their apartment and Yumi often got coffee from there on really busy days at the office. But as much as she liked it, she didn't want to be the one stuck going there every Sunday morning to grab coffee and bagels. But sure enough. That's exactly what she was doing.

She huffed and pulled her ponytail tighter when she felt it loosening and took confident strides into the café, trying to get over how annoyed she was with Mukai lately.

The café had black and white tile floors, big arching windows against the back walls that were cleverly decorated with hanging plants that had long vines that cast pretty shadows in the morning sunlight, a pale gray bar for to-go orders, and little white tables with simple black chairs in the restaurant area.

In fact, the more Yumi looked around (it was definitely busy, but there were still a few empty tables) the more she leaned towards sitting down at a table and treating herself to breakfast.

Screw Mukai. If he couldn't wake up on time then that wasn't her problem.

She walked over to the hostess's stand but came to an abrupt halt when her eyes settled on two people seated under one of the arched windows.

The guy had a familiar head of curly black hair with wonderfully broad shoulders and the girl had a mop of windblown hair and freckles littering her face.

"Table for one?"

Yumi's eyes flickered to the hostess, a little teenager who gave her a pretty smile as she reached for the menus.

"Uh," Yumi's eyes drifted back over to Hana and Shisui.

She was laughing.

A big, free laugh that had her pressing a hand to her ribcage as she tried to temper it. She didn't cover her mouth all delicately as she laughed so openly and she didn't try to carefully arrange her expression into a softly amused one. She laughed loud and boisterous and Yumi flinched.

"Miss?" the hostess asked, her polite smile morphing into a confused one.

"Sorry," Yumi said quickly. "I think I'll just get something to-go."

Yumi backtracked over to the coffee bar, pulse quickening and risking glances over at where Shisui and Hana were.

She was quick to order two coffees and two bagels, mentally cursing Mukai to high heaven for being such an _idiot_ and not waking up on time.

Just _once_ she'd like it if he could get up when the alarm went off! Just once!

She dug her phone out of her purse and tried to busy herself with it as she waited for her order.

She was going to wring Mukai's neck when she got home.

Her order was ready only minutes later and she was quick to grab it and make a beeline for the door.

Yumi risked one last look over her shoulder, just in time to see Shisui blinking in confusion and looking over his own shoulder, connecting eyes with Yumi for a split second.

He didn't smile at her or wave. Just frowned and turned away to give his undivided attention to the Sarutobi girl.

Yumi bit the tip of her tongue, going through the motions of getting home, setting the coffee and bagels on the counter of her kitchen, and trying to calmly organize her thoughts so she didn't jump down Mukai's throat.

"Oh thanks, Babe," Mukai said with a grin. He had just been walking out of the bathroom, indicating he had just woken up, and she was about to lose it.

But she didn't. She thought of a better way to vent her frustrations.

"You said you're subscribed to _Byakugan Times,_ right?" she asked suddenly.

Mukai, who was already grabbing his bagel out of the paper bag, furrowed his eyebrows and shot her quick glance.

"Yeah, why?"

"Can you log into your account for me? I want to check them out," she said with a forced smile.

Mukai shrugged and dug his phone out of the pockets of his basketball shorts and handed it to her.

"Just easier to use the app on my phone," he said casually.

"Can I search for stories by journalist?" she asked as she unlocked his phone and searched for the app.

"I think so? I've never tried it. Why?"

"No reason," she said right away.

Mukai picked up on what she was doing the second she started typing 'Hana Sarutobi' into the search bar.

"Yumi, are you stalking Shisui's girlfriend?"

"She's not his girlfriend," Yumi all but snarled.

"No, but she's something to him and—"

"What the hell is this?" Yumi gasped.

The first article that came up was just a headline talking about Tsunade Senju's wedding with the blurb _'this is a developing story'_ beneath it. But that wasn't what Yumi was interested in. She could care less about the fact that Hana Sarutobi went to Tsunade Senju's wedding.

What she was interested in were the four or five articles beneath it, all with headlines relating to the Ryuchi Killings.

"Yumi, you're acting a little ridiculous right now. I get that you think she's not his type but why the hell do you even give a shit who Shisui Uchiha is sleeping—"

"She's covering the Ryuchi Killings," Yumi deadpanned. Her eyes flashed up to Mukai's light ones and he just blinked.

"Okay? And your point is?" he asked, very clearly agitated with her behavior (not that she could really blame him).

Yumi almost started laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Mukai! Think about that!" she insisted as her eyes widened. "She's _press_. Hana Sarutobi isn't just a journalist writing about weddings and other bullshit. She's writing about the _Ryuchi Killings_. Shisui is working that same case. Think about it."

Mukai frowned, obviously not following her line of reasoning.

"So he's dating a journalist? I know it's kind of frowned upon in the force but—"

"Not just any journalist. An _award winning_ journalist who got a man off death row for her senior project, took a knife in the back for the princess of Suna, and who was a political prisoner for months in Ame during their civil war," Yumi insisted. (No, she did not stalk the Sarutobi girl. She just happened to look her up when Mukai knew who she was. She wasn't obsessed or anything. She could care less.)

"Yumi," Mukai said with a tired sigh.

"A person like that is a person who believes the ends justify the means. A person like that would _never_ be satisfied writing about _weddings!_" she went on. "Don't you see? She's obviously using Shisui for information on the case so she can get ahead of the other papers!"

Mukai's jaw locked and he crossed his arms.

At least he was finally listening to her.

"Even if that happened to be true, Shisui wouldn't give up any information. He's not that kind of agent," Mukai said softly.

"You don't know that. I can only imagine the things she says to him during pillow talk."

Mukai's mouth twisted into a distinct frown.

"_Byakugan Times_ kinda _has_ posted a lot of information about the case before the others," he mumbled.

"I bet he doesn't even know," Yumi said. She handed Mukai his phone back and went back over to her purse to dig for her own phone.

"Yumi, what are you doing?" Mukai asked.

"I'm gonna tell him! He has a right to know!"

Mukai definitely didn't like that. He crossed his arms and shot her a disapproving glare that stung her skin.

"Are you telling him because you think he should know or because you're jealous?"

She scoffed, "don't be stupid. He needs to know that he's being used."

Mukai's mouth twisted again but he didn't berate her anymore, even though he knew that he could have, even though he probably should have.

"You can't let him figure it out on his own?" was all Mukai said.

"No," Yumi said. She started typing out a text to Shisui, trying to carefully word it. She wouldn't tell him over text. She'd have to get him to agree to meet for coffee or drinks after work. That would be the best way to tell him, face to face.

Mukai sighed but didn't say anything. He just grabbed his breakfast and stalked into the office, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

Genma didn't get her article on the wedding until after 5pm and she knew that Mr. Hyuga would definitely chew them both out over that. He'd chew her out for taking so long to write the damn thing and then he'd chew Genma out for not staying on top of her.

When she finally emailed him the article he texted her right away, asking if she had told Shisui. She told him that she chickened out and all he responded with was a smug _"I knew it."_

She busied herself after that by hiding in the coolness of her bedroom and texting Shisui on and off.

After breakfast, he went back home to see Itachi. He actually invited her over with a boyish grin that gave her butterflies, but she said she had to get home and write her article before Mr. Hyuga fired her.

Being with him was all so easy and she spent the better part of the day trying to figure out the best way to tell him the truth.

The longer she waited the worse the fallout would be. She knew that. She just couldn't do it…

She was currently lying in her bed when a continuation from the text she'd gotten that morning flashed across the screen.

A text from an unknown number that said:

'**Didn't think you'd blow us off when we have something that would give you information not even the feds have.'**

Hana glared and started to type back a response but was interrupted when they beat her to it.

'**Just so you know: the cops are gonna make an announcement tomorrow morning that they have the killer in custody.'**

Her mouth was suddenly dry and she pushed herself up until she was sitting straight up and waiting in the silence for the next part of the text message.

'**They have the wrong guy.'**

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Sorry for the shorter chapter! The last one was super long though so this one ended up on the shorter side.**_

_**Thank you thank you thank youuu: MiyuKazu, evabrennan, Ki, Kellie, & **_**_Honestlyxx! Your reviews are always incredibly appreciated!(:_**

**_Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:_**


	17. Chapter 17

_***Check the author's note at the end of the chapter for some updates!***_

* * *

Kin and her friends had been right.

First thing Monday morning the Chief of Police issued a statement that they had the person behind the Ryuchi Killings in custody.

And if Kin was right about that, then Hana had a feeling she was also right about the cops having the wrong guy.

She may not have liked those guys—Kin, Zaku, and Dosu. They might have freaked her the hell out, but they knew what they were talking about where the killings were involved, and years of investigative journalism told Hana to trust her gut.

If another body showed up after the Chief of Police's statement, then the people of Konoha would lose their shit and lose all trust in the police force.

Hell, people might even start taking the vigilante route.

That's what happened in Suna anyway, and that had been a disaster.

She may have only been covering the story from afar, but she felt like she had an obligation to look further into it. She knew things that most people didn't and she knew she had a duty to act on it.

But how the hell was she supposed to do that?

"So you chickened out, huh?"

Genma's voice pulled Hana out of her internal debate when he walked into the office that morning.

She swiveled in her computer chair so she was looking directly into Genma's cubicle and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Shut up," she said, though there was no bite to her words.

Genma snickered as he put his messenger bag down and nursed a cup of coffee.

"How were Raido's parents?" she asked, eager to change the subject.

"Shitty," Genma said with ease. He sat down and turned in his own chair to better face her. "And then Mr. Hyuga raked me over the coals because you don't know how to stick to deadlines for stories you don't care about."

She gave him a sheepish smile. She'd gotten a lecture from Mr. Hyuga too, though he didn't really rake her over the coals, just lectured her not to do it again.

"Sorry," she said.

He shrugged. "No big deal. Did you see the news this morning?"

"Yeah," she said under her breath.

"Christ, why the hell do you look like that? What do you know that I don't?" Genma asked with a groan the minute he noticed her frown.

Figuring 'why not' she went ahead and told him.

"Because I have a legitimate reason to think that they don't have the right person," she said quickly, offering him that sheepish grin once more.

Genma blinked dumbly and then huffed, scratching the back of his head in annoyance.

"Of course you do," he grunted. "So what exactly are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," she admitted. Her eyes drifted over to her computer where she had several videos pulled up from different news networks that broadcasted Chief Shimura's statement from earlier than morning.

She had an awful, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You gonna tell Shisui?" Genma pressed.

"Uh well considering the fact that I've yet to tell him that I'm a monster who started talking to him for all the wrong reasons—no. No, I am not going to tell him."

"You do realize that the longer you put this off the worse it'll be, right?"

She bit back the all too aggressive response on the tip of her tongue and instead came back with a soft, "yeah."

"Just checking," he said with a soft hum.

"Where do I start?" she asked suddenly.

Genma cocked his head to the side, narrowing his brown eyes at her question.

"With what? Coming clean? I don't know. Maybe with an apology?"

She shook her head, "no. Where do I start with trying to find the actual killer?"

Genma scoffed, "Hana, this isn't some political chess game that you can figure out just by talking to the right sources. This is an actual _serial killer_. This is a killer that's caused such a problem that _feds_ were brought in and _they_ can't even find the right person."

Hana couldn't help it when she rolled her eyes.

"Ya know, I find your lack of faith in me astonishing. And you don't figure out political chess games only by talking to the right sources," she retorted.

Genma scoffed again, "no? Your Suna piece suggests otherwise."

"Of course not," she argued. "In politics, you always start by following the money."

"Oh excuse me," Genma said sarcastically.

She paused, mind suddenly moving a million miles a minute.

"Wait," she breathed. "_Money_. In politics, you always start by following the money."

"Yeah and?" Genma asked as he furrowed his brow.

She was quiet for a brief moment, trying to organize her thoughts. There was something there, on the top of her lungs. If she could just put words to it…

"Kabuto Yakushi is the suspect in custody. He was a scientist conducting research before an incident happened and he was barred from working in labs," she said under her breath. She was mainly talking to herself rather than to Genma, just trying to physically talk through her muddled thoughts until she could organize the ideas into something coherent.

Genma was quiet and just watched her in confusion, keeping his mouth shut and eyes narrowed impossibly small.

"Research is expensive, Genma. Half of the University of Konoha's budget is allocated to the STEM department and funding their research."

"Where are you going with this?" Genma mumbled.

"I'm not sure," she said softly. "The Ryuchi Killings are weird, right? Not just weird that killings are happening, but weird because bodies turn up with marks on their necks and completely drained of blood. And based on the research I was doing on Yakushi and Orochimaru—who he studied under—that sort of thing doesn't sound too far off from what he was doing in the lab."

Genma sighed, "I still don't see where this is going."

"Research is expensive," she said again as she locked eyes with her friend. "I know for a fact that my father is cutting back on funding for certain professors. The board has been breathing down his neck the last few years regarding the budget."

Genma was quiet for a moment, working his jaw and following her line of thought.

"So you think that because his funding is getting cut, Orochimaru and Kabuto are going out and killing people so they can continue with their experiments? You do realize that sounds insane, right?" Genma quipped.

"Oh, absolutely," Hana agreed. She threw her bag over her shoulder though and shot him a smug smirk. "But that doesn't mean I'm not onto something."

Genma's lips parted in shock and she didn't give him much time to process what she was doing because she started to head out of her cubicle and out of the building.

"Where are you going?" he asked when she walked right past him.

"To follow the money and see where it leads."

* * *

Shisui thought things were going pretty well so far. Things with Hana seemed good and the statement that went out earlier that morning was received really well by everyone. He just had this nagging feeling in the back of his head that something wasn't right. That maybe Yakushi wasn't solely to blame for everything that was going on, even though the evidence suggested otherwise.

All he had to do was trust the evidence. The evidence didn't lie.

But his gut (which also didn't lie) seemed to disagree.

"You look upset," Itachi noticed.

Shisui, who had been standing in the kitchenette of the station and making coffee, all but jumped at the sound of his cousin's voice.

"I'm not," he assured. "I'm just not totally sure that Yakushi is our guy."

"Really?" Itachi asked with a hum.

"Yeah," Shisui admitted. "I don't know. I've just got this feeling."

"Is that how the Bureau conducts its investigations these days? On feelings?"

Shisui's eyes flitted to where Danzo was barging into the kitchen with a coffee cup and a few containers of Tupperware in hand. He shouldered his way right past Itachi and over to the sink against the back wall and put the stopper in, filling it with water to do his dishes.

"I was just making a comment," Shisui muttered. He quickly grabbed his coffee and nodded at Itachi to follow him out of the kitchenette.

The quicker he got away from Danzo Shimura, the better.

"If you don't think it's Yakushi, who do you think it is?" Itachi asked.

They walked side by side down the hallway and headed for the conference room that had been a sort of home base for them.

"I don't know," Shisui said. "I still think there's something weird about Orochimaru. Don't you?"

Itachi crossed his arms and nodded with a frown.

"I do. And I don't like the fact that Sasuke is working so closely with him."

Shisui had almost forgotten about that. Walking into Orochimaru's lab to find him with Sasuke was definitely jarring. Nothing quite like seeing a family member in close proximity to a possible suspect in a serial killer case.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and Shisui fished out only to see yet another text from Yumi and he rolled his eyes in disgust.

She had texted him yesterday asking to meet up to "chat" about something. He simply ignored the text and went on with his day. But then she texted him again that morning and again just now.

'**Shisui, this is important. I just need like a half hour. You'll thank me for it.'**

"She won't let up," Shisui complained to Itachi. He held his phone out to his cousin and Itachi read the text quickly, frowning as soon as he finished.

"She can't tell you whatever it is over text?" Itachi asked.

"Apparently not," Shisui said with a heavy sigh. "I'm tempted to meet up with her only so she'll leave me the hell alone."

"You know how I feel about you meeting up with her," Itachi said. He sat down at the table and started fingering through Yakushi's file.

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Shisui said. "But I also know Yumi and I know she won't let up until I finally do."

Shisui sat down across from Itachi and begrudgingly texted his obnoxious ex-girlfriend back. He was short and to the point with his text. He made it perfectly clear that he would only meet up with her for thirty minutes and that she had to leave him alone afterward. And Yumi's quick response that promised him she would, was enough (albeit _barely_) for him to agree to meet with her tomorrow night at a coffee shop for thirty minutes.

He had no idea what the hell she could possibly want, but it was better to just clear the air with her so she would back off.

She could be a little relentless after all—and not in a good way.

"You should invite Hana over," Itachi said suddenly, effectively shattering the silence that descended over them.

"Yeah?" Shisui asked. He was a little confused and wondered why Itachi would suggest that seemingly out of the blue, but he wasn't going to press it. Shisui liked having Itachi's approval almost as much (and probably even more) than he liked having Fugaku's approval. So if Itachi liked Hana, then that was pretty much a done deal for Shisui.

"Mhm," Itachi said with a soft smile. "Sasuke is coming over tonight so I'm making dinner, and I think it would be nice to have someone else to cook for."

Shisui couldn't have smiled harder if he tried.

* * *

The money, coincidentally, took Hana to the University of Konoha. And more specifically, it took her to Orochimaru and his state of the art lab.

That was the nice thing about being the president's daughter and esteemed alumni of the school. All you had to do was smile and bat your eyes at the right person to get the information you needed.

And that led Hana to Orochimaru's lab, knowing full well that he didn't have a class and that he was likely going to be alone as his research assistants didn't usually get to the lab until later in the day.

It was the perfect opportunity to talk to the right source.

Hana knocked on the door of the lab and hesitated before she sucked in a breath and stepped into the room.

She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when she heard that the lab was "state of the art" but from what she could tell, Orochimaru's lab looked like every other lab at the school. There were black lab tables in the middle of the room and expensive looking equipment on the back counter against the wall. There were also dry-erase boards at the front of the room and even a desk.

If anything, it just looked like another student lab.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Hana's eyes flashed to where Orochimaru was seated at one of the lab tables, typing away on a laptop as he looked over a stack of papers. His long black hair hung over his shoulder and his eyes that almost looked snakelike were alert and watching her every movement.

"Hi," Hana said as she cleared her throat. She walked over to him and outstretched her hand. "I know this is a little sudden, but my name is Hana and I actually came by to interview you. I'm working on a piece and you're just the person to talk to."

Orochimaru carefully arranged his expression so it was unreadable, but he indulged her by shaking her hand anyway.

"Yes, I think I know who you are. You're Sarutobi's daughter, yes?"

Well. So much for being somewhat anonymous.

"Guilty as charged," Hana said with a sheepish smile.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Orochimaru asked. He didn't stand up from the desk and he hardly even looked away from his computer, but Hana didn't mind too much. At least he was entertaining her.

"I wanted to talk to you about the killings that have been happening. I thought getting your take on Kabuto Yakushi's arrest would add an interesting spin to the story since you used to be his mentor," she said with a sickeningly sweet smile.

That got Orochimaru's attention. He blinked and finally turned away from his computer to give her his undivided attention.

"I see you're very to the point," he mused.

Hana kept that smile plastered on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I've been told I need to have more tact."

"Don't be," Orochimaru said with a hum as he stood up. "It's refreshing. So much time is wasted when people prefer to beat around the bush."

He walked over to the desk at the front of the room and produced a water bottle to sip on.

"You happened to catch me at a good time, though I have a feeling that was by design," he said with a smirk.

Hana shrugged, not even bothering to deny it.

"I happen to know how busy you are," she said.

"I am, so you'll have to make it quick."

"Of course," Hana said. "I wanted to get your take on Kabuto Yakushi being arrested as the person behind the Ryuchi Killings. I know that you were his mentor and you worked closely together on your research."

"That's correct," Orochimaru said with a nod. "To be honest, I'm not very surprised. Kabuto was always a little volatile."

Hana narrowed her eyes for a fraction of a second.

"I was reading about the killings and your research, and while the research is above my head, I have to say that these killings seem a little synonymous with it. The victims have all been drained of blood and I saw in your last publication that the blood was an issue you were having with the further progression of the… The…" she trailed off. What the hell were those things called? She couldn't remember.

"Zetsu cells," Orochimaru offered, not an ounce of shame in his voice.

She nodded and went on, "I just need to know what you think of that—of your former assistant bastardizing your research."

Orochimaru arched one eyebrow above the other.

"I don't think he's bastardizing anything," Orochimaru started. Hana's eyes widened. Was he going to be that obvious? Was he really connected to the murders after all? "It isn't my research that's being used, at least according to the news it isn't. It's only a sorry impersonation."

Hana narrowed her eyes.

"You're skeptical," Orochimaru noticed. He smirked. "Not that I blame you of course, but only I have access to the Zetsu cells. Kabuto may have some half-baked scheme going on, but thankfully my research has nothing to do with it."

Hana didn't believe that, not for a second. Orochimaru was too calm and it was—

"Tell me," Orochimaru said as he brought her train of thought to an abrupt halt. "When you were in the Ame prison, did they experiment on you too?

Hana blinked and her mouth became dry. What the hell?

"No," she said.

"Really? I read your piece and others on the conflict. I was under the assumption that all of the prisoners were experimented on," Orochimaru said casually.

Hana crossed her arms. This was definitely not where she thought the conversation would take her.

"I was beaten and starved. Not experimented on," she said.

Orochimaru didn't look convinced and something about the way his snakelike eyes glinted made her skin crawl.

"I shouldn't say this because you're Sarutobi's daughter, but I'd wager that you were. According to every account and record I saw, every prisoner was."

Hana scoffed.

"I wasn't," she insisted. "They would never experiment on a Konoha civilian."

"Well, I suppose that's a good thing. You made a quite a fast recovery. I remember how worried Sarutobi was when you got back. You must be a strong young woman."

He was implying something, obvious by the easy set in his shoulders, Hana just wasn't sure what he was implying. He seemed pretty dead set on her being experimented on in Ame, but she was positive she wasn't.

She had known people who were experimented on. The rebels would be dragged out of their cells and come back days later with their skin sickly shades of ivory and bloodshot eyes.

Hana was definitely not one of those people, but Orochimaru seemed to think that she was. She just didn't know why.

"There wasn't much to recover from," Hana said. "Just a few bruises and some weight loss."

"What about your time in Suna?" he pressed.

She frowned and crossed her arms.

"It was relatively peaceful," she said.

"I see," Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Forgive me, I'm a scientist and I'm horribly interested in this subject, but did you happen to contract any illnesses while in Suna or Ame? Suna, in particular, has some very nasty diseases that have been known to infect Konoha civilians."

"No," Hana said with a glower. "I've got a strong immune system."

"Yes, I've deduced that," Orochimaru said. A smirk slithered onto his face and a chill ran up Hana's spine.

"Yeah…" she muttered.

"Any other questions for me?"

That brought her back to reality and Hana cleared her throat.

"Actually, yes," she said. "This is more of a side note to give readers more context of who you are, but what are your thoughts on the school's new distribution of finances? I understand that the board has decided to cut your research funding in half—and with how expensive your lab and supplies are I can't imagine that's conducive to your research. How are you handling that?"

Orochimaru's composure shattered for a brief moment. His eyes widened and his jaw locked tight enough that she could visibly see it, but as fast as it happened, he regained composure and wore the ghost of a smile.

"I'm not too concerned," he said. "There are other sources of funding and if I'm able to make a breakthrough by the end of the quarter I'll be exempt from the cut."

Her eyebrows arched high.

"And will you? Make a breakthrough by the end of the quarter?"

"As a matter of fact, I believe I will."

* * *

Hana spent the rest of the day sitting on campus and pouring over research grants and other areas of funding that Orochimaru could have possible alluded to but finding nothing. Even with the database at the school (_thank you, Hiruzen_) she still hadn't been able to find another source.

The type of money that it took to fund research like Orochimaru's was not easy to come by, not in the slightest. And as far as she could tell, only the school had the resources to provide him with that sort of money, but he mentioned that there were other sources. So what the hell were they?

Orochimaru had been bothered by her comment on the loss of funding. It was the one thing that made him temporarily break and she was glad she asked it. For as forthcoming as he tried to be, he was wholly unprepared for her to call him out like that.

Which meant he was hiding something.

And why the hell had he been so interested in her health? What kind of person asked another person if they were experimented on or contracted any foreign diseases?

She needed to talk to Jiraiya. He would know more about Orochimaru.

She just hadn't been able to get in contact with him all day and she was starting to get a little worried. Hopefully, he hadn't left the country again. Jiraiya was someone who was known for disappearing at random for months at a time, and if he was out of the country then she'd never be able to talk to him in time and get some answers.

Hana had been so lost in thought that she almost shrieked when her phone started ringing.

"Hello?" she asked with a sigh as she tried to get her heart rate under control. She'd been so surprised that she hadn't even bothered with checking the caller ID.

"Am I interrupting? You sound freaked out."

The sound of Shisui's voice filled her ears and Hana exhaled in relief. She needed to calm the fuck down. Just because Orochimaru was weird didn't mean he was the killer.

"Uh nope. Just doing some research. What's up?" she asked.

"I'll be quick then," Shisui said. She could _hear_ the smile in his voice and she twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she felt the corner of her lips begin to curl into a smile. "Doing anything tonight?"

She looked at her computer screen. It was absolutely littered with tabs of other sources for research funding and looking at it almost gave her a headache.

"Not really. Why?"

"You should come over for dinner. Itachi is cooking and it might be fun," he said.

Hana's mouth felt dry as she looked away from her computer to an empty bench outside of the university's administration building.

"Oh, that's really sweet but I don't want to intrude," she said with a nervous smile, thankful that Shisui couldn't see it.

He chuckled and the sound made her feel all weird and fluttery and light.

"Well it was Itachi's idea," he said. She could still hear the smile in his voice, though she was pretty sure it was a full-on grin at this point.

"It was?" she mumbled.

"Yeah," he said. "Things have been slowing down at the station since we've got our guy and he suggested I invite you over. Come on, it'll be fun."

Having dinner at Shisui's with him and his cousin?

It sounded really nice. It sounded downright wonderful. And it also sounded like a very couple-ish thing to do.

Which would be fine if she wasn't a lying asshole who still had yet to tell him the truth.

"I don't think—"

"Aw, so you're gonna make me tell Itachi that you're turning down his offer? He'll be kinda bummed to hear that. I know he looks all scary and intimidating but he's actually a total softie and takes these things really seriously," Shisui teased.

She laughed in spite of herself and pursed her lips together.

"Why does it sound like you're describing yourself?" she teased right back.

"You think I look intimidating? Hey, thanks. Fugaku will be happy to hear that," Shisui said through soft laughter.

"Yeah, nevermind. You're not very intimidating. You're too soft," she quipped.

He made a sound that seemed like he was _tsking _her and she smiled even harder to herself.

"Damn and here I thought all those hours in the gym paid off."

"Oh trust me, they paid off," she mused.

"Yeah?" there was a mischievous tone in his voice that made her stomach flip in all sorts of ways.

"Don't make this dirty," she warned even though she was pretty sure he could hear her trying to hold back a giggle.

"I would _never_," he said, exaggerating by drawing out his words. "So I'll see you tonight then? Say like six o'clock?"

How was she supposed to say no to him? She could just hear him smiling and then she could see it too in the back of her mind and she got all flustered. How on Earth was anyone on the planet not supposed to fall for Shisui Uchiha and his seemingly infinite amount of charisma?

"Sure," she said finally. "I'll see you tonight."

"Perfect."

He hung up after that and Hana could feel her face blushing.

She liked Shisui. A lot. Way more than she realized.

And that only meant she'd be that much more screwed when she finally told him the truth.

* * *

Hana showed up a little after Sasuke did and Shisui was actually really grateful for that. Since the case was pretty much closed and in the hands of the DA now, that meant Fugaku would be flying into Konoha for a debriefing. Normally, he would just take a report, but since this was such a high profile case and since it took them longer than anyone would have liked, he wanted to do it in person.

Which was fine, but Fugaku flying in meant he would want to see Sasuke and Sasuke did not really get along with his father.

It was all because Sasuke was pretty much the only Uchiha who didn't go into some type of law enforcement. Kagami, Fugaku, Itachi, and Shisui were all FBI agents. Shisui never got to know his mother, but his father used to tell him stories about how she worked in the Bureau's white-collar crime unit, and even Mikoto was in law enforcement. She used to teach at the police academy before having Sasuke.

So the fact that Sasuke was not in law enforcement? Well, Fugaku never really got over it.

And thank fuck that Sasuke got there before Hana did because it gave Itachi a chance to tell him that Fugaku would be in town in two days.

Sasuke took it as well as to be expected. He rolled his eyes and said he didn't give a shit and Itachi frowned and tried to convince him to give their father a chance and that Fugaku meant well. Sasuke wasn't having any of it and was in a foul mood.

So it was actually kind of a relief when Hana showed up.

"Hey," Shisui said, almost a little breathless as he stepped outside of the apartment and greeted Hana on the other side of the door.

She cocked her head to the side and arched her eyebrows and said, "you good?"

"Oh, I'm fine," he assured. "My little cousin is here and he's in a bitchy mood so I need a breather."

He took the opportunity to take in her appearance. She wore a pair of sun-bleached jeans and a fitted tank top that she tucked in. Her hair, which was usually left down and messy as if it had been windblown, was pulled into a rather messy bun at the nape of her neck with pieces cleverly falling out and framing her face. He wasn't sure if that was intended or not, but the look definitely worked for her.

"Sorry," she said as she looked down and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was doing some work and didn't have a chance to change."

He gave her an easy smile and leaned closer to give her a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"Stop," he said. "You look great."

Her face flushed and it brought all of his attention to the freckles that dusted across her cheeks and his chest felt warm.

"Brace yourself," he warned with a grin.

Without another word he took hold of her hand and guided her into the apartment.

Sasuke was huffing and puffing, but at least he wasn't glaring daggers at Itachi anymore. Rather, he was sitting on the couch and watching TV as he nursed a glass of water.

"Hey, Punk," Shisui said. He walked over to Sasuke and planted a hand on top of his head, effectively messing up his hair and making him groan in absolute annoyance. "You gonna be polite and say hello or what?"

"Get the hell off of me, Idiot," Sasuke grunted as he swatted Shisui's hand away. Surprisingly enough, Sasuke actually looked over at Hana and nodded once in acknowledgment. "I'm Sasuke. You're Hana, right?"

Shisui blinked in surprise and watched as Hana gave him a tiny smile.

"Yeah," she said as she fiddled with the lanyard on her keys. "Nice to meet you."

"Same," Sasuke said casually. Shisui rolled his eyes. Leave it to his cousin to try to be the 'cool kid' only to come off as a complete and total dick.

Sasuke then shot Shisui a self-satisfied smirk.

"Sakura is gonna be so pissed when she hears about this," he said.

Shisui frowned.

"Why?" he asked.

Sasuke redirected his attention back to Hana who was finally walking deeper into the apartment to stand beside Shisui.

"My friend is at the university with me. She's kind of obsessed with you," Sasuke said with a shrug, even though he still smirked.

Hana laughed under her breath, "oh yeah? She must be a journalism student then."

"That's right," Sasuke said, losing a little bit of his attitude. "She'd dying to talk to you and figure out how you landed the Zabuza story for your senior project."

Hana grinned and Shisui couldn't help but smile to himself. He liked it when Hana smiled all big and free like that. It suited her.

"Tell her it was sheer, dumb luck. I happen to have a lot of that," she said.

"I don't think she'll like that," Sasuke remarked.

"No one ever does," she said. She rubbed the back of her neck and then said an easy, "I can give you my email to give to her if you want? She's more than welcome to reach out if she has any questions. I love helping the school's journalism students."

Sasuke's eyes widened a little bit as if he was impressed.

"Actually, yeah. She'd be all over that," he said.

Shisui felt an undeniable sense of relief at how easily Hana and Sasuke got along. He knew his family could be difficult to deal with (Sasuke being one of the more difficult ones) and he _more_ than appreciated that.

Who would have thought that he'd end up actually really liking the girl he had a one-night-stand with?

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna help Itachi with the food real quick," Shisui said, resting his hand on the small of Hana's back before disappearing into the kitchen.

Itachi had just finished plating up the food. It wasn't anything fancy, just some salmon and rice and a side of vegetables. But Shisui appreciated it nonetheless, especially since this whole thing was Itachi's idea in the first place.

"Is Sasuke actually getting along with a girl _you_ brought home?" Itachi asked with a smile.

"I know," Shisui said. He felt a swell of pride in his chest as he took some of the plates to carry out to their small little "dining room" table. (They didn't really have a dining room. It was really just a space off to the side of the living room but that couldn't be helped.)

"You have to keep her then," Itachi said, all too nonchalantly. "It's not every day Sasuke actually gets along with someone who isn't family."

"You're telling me," Shisui remarked. He could feel his cheeks were already a little sore from how hard he was grinning, but he couldn't find it in him to care.

He was happy. Like actually happy.

And damn did it feel good.

"Sakura is so pissed," Sasuke said with a snicker when they all sat down at the little table. He looked at his phone until Itachi cleared his throat for him to put it down and he obliged.

"Sasuke, you shouldn't mess with your friends like that," Itachi said, passing the food to him.

Sasuke affectionately rolled his eyes but didn't bother bickering with Itachi. They already had fought enough thanks to the whole Fugaku thing. The least they could do was not bicker when Shisui had company.

"Hana, I hope this okay," Itachi said.

Hana gave him a smile right away and said, "it's great. I usually live off of takeout and freezer burnt leftovers, so I always love a home-cooked meal."

Itachi smiled softly and Shisui did the same.

Dinner was easy. Filled with comfortable small talk that had nothing to do with murderers and other gruesome crime scenes, but rather easy topics. Like places they all had traveled to and what college had been like.

"Speaking of," Itachi said. He directed his attention to Sasuke who was finishing the rest of what was on his plate. "When are you done with this research assistantship?"

Sasuke paled a little bit and Shisui narrowed his eyes.

"I think at the end of the semester."

"Who are you doing your assistantship with?" Hana asked casually. She must not have picked up on the tension in Sasuke's shoulders. And why would she? It was hardly noticeable. Shisui only picked up on it because he spent most of his life with the kid.

"You probably don't know him since you were in the journalism school," Sasuke began, trying to be casual with a shrug. "His name is Orochimaru."

Hana stared a moment longer than necessary and Shisui picked up on it in an instant.

She knew something.

"Oh," she said.

"You know him?" Sasuke asked, looking up from his food and at Hana instead.

"I know of him," she said. "There was a kid in one on my electives when I was in school that did an assistantship with him."

"Really? Who?" Sasuke pressed as his eyes widened.

"His name was Kimimaro. He was sick and ended up passing away that semester," she said with a frown that pulled on the corner of her lips.

"Oh," Sasuke breathed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Itachi said.

Hana shook her head. "It's all right. I didn't really know him. I think he had some sort of illness. He was a pretty quiet guy. Kept to himself a lot."

Shisui wondered why he didn't come across that name in his research. He and Itachi had looked into Orochimaru and the former research assistants. You'd think that there would be something on the kid that ended up dead, but no.

"Orochimaru has definitely had some bad luck with his assistants," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

Shisui did _not_ want this to be where the conversation went, so he abruptly changed the subject.

"So Sakura is pissed, huh?" Shisui said.

Sasuke took the bait and kinda smirked and proceeded to explain how Sakura was currently blowing up his phone, asking all sorts of questions. He'd yet to give his friend Hana's email because he wanted to mess with her just a little bit longer. Said it was payback for having to put up with her and Naruto constantly.

As Sasuke talked about Naruto and Sakura (and thankfully Hana indulged him and kept him talking about them), Shisui and Itachi got up and started to clear the table. Both Hana and Sasuke offered to help, but Shisui and Itachi both refused them.

If Sasuke could get along with Hana, then Shisui definitely did not want to ruin it by making either of them do dishes.

After all, it was good for his cousin to talk to someone else who wasn't his family or Naruto and Sakura.

And it was even better for him to talk to someone who wasn't Orochimaru or one of his weird assistants.

They just kinda hung out in the living room after that.

Things were pretty relaxed as they hung out and the TV played a late night sitcom for some background noise. Things were just easy. Hell, even Sasuke genuinely smiled once or twice and Shisui loved when his little cousin could just let loose.

But then, of course, Itachi's phone had to ring and it ended up being Fugaku.

Which was not ideal, because Fugaku wanted to talk with both of his sons at the same time so Itachi and Sasuke had to go into Itachi's room and it was just not going to be good, obvious by the way Sasuke's entire demeanor shifted back to his usual bleak one.

"What just happened?" Hana asked.

She sat beside him on the couch and Shisui had rested an arm over the back of the sofa. But once she looked at him, he brought his arm down around her shoulders.

"Their father wants to talk to them and Sasuke does _not_ get along with him. Plus, whenever Fugaku wants to talk to both of them at the same time it's never good," Shisui explained. He could feel his face form into a little bit of a grimace but he did his best to at least somewhat mask it.

"Should I go then? In case things get bad?" she asked.

It probably was a good idea, but Shisui didn't want her to go. Not just yet anyway.

"Nah, if it gets bad we can go hide in my room."

"Or we could go to my place," she offered with a mischievous smile.

Shisui grinned at her and pulled her a little closer into his side.

"To the apartment that's hotter than the pits of hell? I don't think so," he teased.

She scoffed and flicked his chin, "I have a window unit in my room. It was cold enough for you last time."

He continued smiling at her, liking the way she felt pressed against his side.

"Yeah I guess," he admitted. "You really just need to get the damn thing fixed."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll get to it."

"Sounds like your father would just pay to have it fixed," he pointed out, absentmindedly rubbing circles into her arm with his thumb.

Hana shook her head as she chuckled under her breath, seemingly in spite of herself, and relaxed into him.

"Probably, but he does enough for me," she said.

"Hey, that's what parents are for, right? To help you out and fix your damn AC when it breaks in the middle of a heatwave?"

"We're not in the middle of a heatwave, we're in the middle of summer," she said with a pretty smile.

"Fair enough," he relented.

Shisui then craned his neck down the hallway to see if Itachi's door was still shut. He couldn't totally be sure since the hallway was on the other side of the room, but he figured it was, so he proceeded to bring his hand up to cradle Hana's face and kiss her softly, slowly slanting his lips against hers with practiced ease.

She reacted instantly, resting her hands on his chest and deepening the kiss until she was shuddering against him and he was all of five seconds away from carrying her to the bedroom.

He reluctantly broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, fiddling with a lock of hair that he tucked behind her ear.

"I think you should stay the night," he murmured.

"You always think I should stay the night," she teased with a pretty twinkle in her hazel eyes.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No," she said, smiling softly and making him feel warm all over.

"So you'll stay then?" he asked. He knew his voice was a little rough, evident from the way Hana's arms rippled with gooseflesh when he spoke, and it was all he could do not to smirk at the effect he was having on her.

She laughed and he grinned, kissing her on the corner of her mouth again and wrapping his arms around her in a soft embrace.

"Yeah, you're a total softie," she said.

"Ya caught me," he remarked. "It's the damn freckles. I'm a sucker for them."

Her eyes twinkled and she pulled back just enough so she could better see his face.

"Seriously?"

"Uh yeah. They're cute as hell. Don't tell me no one has never mentioned that before," he said in disbelief.

"No, not really," she admitted.

He scoffed but before he could say something witty, his phone started buzzing on the coffee table.

He had every intention of ignoring it, but the only problem was that the screen was facing up so the caller ID showed who it was, and god fucking damnit because it was the station calling him.

Shisui sat up without a moment's hesitation and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Yeah?" he greeted.

"You and Itachi need to get to Ryuchi Caves—the wetlands—right now," Aoba's voice was on the other end of the phone and Shisui leaned forward, rubbing his jaw as he did.

"What happened?" he asked, even though the sinking feeling in his gut already told him why.

"Turns out Yakushi is not our killer and whoever is must think it's funny we have the wrong guy."

Shisui's stomach twisted.

"Why's that?" he asked, even though he was pretty sure it came out as more of a croak than anything else.

"Because he left us a message this time. We've got forty-eight hours before he strikes again."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Most importantly THANK YOU to all of last week's wonderful reviewers: MiyuKazu, kankananime123, Ki, Kellie, Random Stranger, showichi, and Honestlyxx. Y'all don't even know how wonderful it is to get reviews. Never gets old (':**_

_**Okay now for a super quick update: So I have a midterm next Monday and next Thursday. So chapter 18 will be posted either early on Saturday (which is what I'm hoping for!) orrr next Tuesday. I gotta spend Sunday studying for my midterm so yeah! Just pretty please be flexible with me! (The other good thing is that the last like 3 chapters will be posted within a couple days of each other. So again. Pls be flexible lmao)**_

_**Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:**_


	18. Chapter 18

_***My beta was busy this week so there are likely typos. I'll grab em as the week goes on!***_

* * *

"Shit," Shisui cursed. He tossed his phone back down on the coffee table in the living room and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs and running his hand across his face with a heavy sigh.

"You okay?" Hana asked. She leaned forward as well and rested her hand on his back, hoping to be at least a little reassuring.

"I shouldn't tell you this," he mumbled. He didn't look at her. He only rubbed his temples and slowly stood up. "But apparently another body's been found."

Hana stared. Her mouth felt dry and she could feel her pulse quicken.

On the backs of her eyes, all she could see was Kin's text that said the cops had the wrong person in custody.

How had she known that?

"Oh," Hana mumbled.

"Yeah."

Shisui looked stressed.

Actually. That wasn't the right word.

He looked _exhausted_.

His shoulders slumped forward, his brows knit together with worry, the corners of his lips pulled down into a frown, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

She wished she could have done something to take away his worry, but there wasn't anything she could do.

"It doesn't help that my uncle will be here in two days. He's not going to like this."

She didn't have the right words. There weren't any words she could use that would put him at ease.

"I'm sorry," she said. She fiddled with the hair-tie around her wrist and hesitantly stood up. "On that _happy_ note, I'll head out then. I'm assuming you're just waiting for Itachi and then you're gonna head over to Ryuchi Caves?"

He nodded, still wearing a deep frown on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just wanted to have a nice night and—"

She gave him a strained smile and reached up to press a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, the same way he'd done to her.

"Don't worry about it," she said.

He smiled weakly and slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer until she was pressed against his chest. Hana chuckled under her breath and brought her arms around his middle.

"Look at you being all sentimental," she teased.

"Can't help it," he said, his voice hoarse. "Do me a favor and let me know once you're home safe, okay?"

"Mhm," she agreed.

He held her there for a moment longer and Hana could feel her pulse quicken.

She _had_ to tell him but she certainly couldn't do that now, could she? She couldn't come clean to him right when another body was found after they thought they had arrested the right guy.

At this rate, she'd just have to wait until they found the actual killer, and by then it would be too late. She knew that.

But when the hell else was she supposed to tell him?

"I'll walk you out," he said, pulling back and anchoring his hands on her shoulders.

Hana looked up at him. She had been tall her whole life, towering over her high school prom dates and friends, getting made fun of in school for her long, lanky frame. But Shisui? Shisui had at least a few inches on her and she found herself having to look _up_ at him, and she actually kinda liked it.

"That's okay," she said. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Okay good," he said.

He kissed her one last time. A soft one that lasted only a moment, but long enough to make her feel like her heart was about to burst from her chest.

He pulled back and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with a tiny smile and Hana almost felt like she couldn't breathe.

What had she gotten herself into?

Sooner or later, she was going to break his heart and she absolutely hated herself for it.

* * *

It had been sheer, dumb luck that Fugaku called Itachi before the station called Shisui. He didn't even want to think about what Fugaku would have said if he'd known. They dodged a bullet there. Of course, they couldn't hide anything from Fugaku for very long, but Shisui would take what he could get.

Itachi had been surprised when Shisui told him and he told Sasuke that he should just stay at the apartment.

Then they left.

Itachi didn't say what Fugaku wanted to talk to him and Sasuke about and Shisui didn't ask.

Not when they fucked up so bad that another innocent person ended up dead.

The car ride was quiet and so was the walk from where they parked around by the other squad cars to the wetlands.

Neither Shisui nor Itachi had a flashlight, so they'd been forced to use their cell phones for light as they walked through the uneven marshland.

Raido was the first person Shisui saw when they got closer to the rest of the team.

He wasn't in uniform. He was just in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a jacket thrown on top. He turned over his shoulder when they approached and the harsh white light from one of the flashlights glinted against the scar that warped the side of his face.

"Not the kind of phone call you were expecting, huh?" Raido asked.

"Not really," Shisui mumbled.

He should have trusted his gut. He knew that Kabuto wasn't the right guy. He knew deep down that he wasn't.

But at the same time, the evidence told them it _was_ Kabuto. What the hell else was Shisui supposed to do?

"Do we know who the victim is?" Itachi asked.

"No," Raido admitted. "You guys should go take a closer look."

Shisui figured that was going to be the answer. So he sighed, plunged his hands into the pockets of his FBI jacket, and took heavy steps over to a small, stagnant body of water where the other officers were.

The body wasn't in the water. Instead, it was on the ground directly next to it, one arm almost in the little pond.

The body was that of a young man, likely college-aged, with black spiked hair. Shisui could see that there were circular scars on the palms of his hands. The scars almost looked like scars from a piercing, but he couldn't be sure. And when he looked a little closer, he could see that same mark on the left side of the victim's neck.

Then Shisui's eyes flickered to a white piece of paper that was safety-pinned to the bottom hem of the victim's gray t-shirt.

He frowned and crouched down, cocking his head to the side and reading the words on the crumped piece of loose-leaf.

'_Release Yakushi or there will be another one in 48 hours.'_

Shisui's blood went cold and his eyes flashed over those words at least a dozen more times before he finally stood up.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he deadpanned.

Itachi looked at the body next and Shisui watched as his cousin's shoulders pulled taut as he read over the note.

"If there's anything good from this, it's that we at least know for certain that Yakushi is involved," Itachi said with a sigh.

"We need to go question him," Shisui said.

"That won't be easy. He's already lawyered up," came Raido's voice.

"Well we have to do something," he said. He could feel his blood pressure beginning to rise.

Damnit, he _knew_ it. He knew Yakushi wasn't the right guy and he got too comfortable. Now another innocent person ended up dead and they were back to square one.

What the hell were they going to do?

Shisui rubbed the space between his brows and let out another heavy sigh.

All he could do for now was wait to get the victim's identity and talk to Kabuto Yakushi. Maybe then something would be revealed.

* * *

"Victim is Zaku Abumi. Twenty-two years old. No college degree, worked for a demolition company, and has a rap sheet a mile long," Hayate said. They were all in the conference room since they'd gotten back to the station several hours ago and Shisui was on his hundredth cup of coffee, trying anything to stay awake.

"The victimology is all wrong," Shisui pointed out. "The killer always goes for the model college student."

"Did we have a missing persons report for him?" Itachi asked, sipping some tea and absentmindedly flipping through pages of evidence.

"No," Hayate said. He squinted at the computer screen and went on. "There's not much to this kid other than his rap sheet and the fact that his father worked in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis."

"What kind of things has he been busted for?" Raido asked.

"Arson, breaking and entering, possession, possession with intent to distribute, assault, resisting arrest… You name it and it's probably on here," Hayate said. "Seems from the reports that he has a tendency to show up around crime scenes, especially murder scenes."

Shisui's eyes glinted and he looked at where Hayate was reading from the computer.

He wondered if—

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he promptly silenced it.

"Hey, I think I found something," Hayate said. He narrowed his tired eyes and went on. "A couple years ago he was arrested for breaking and entering into a University of Konoha lab."

"Let me guess," Aoba drawled. "That lab belonged to Orochimaru."

"That's right," Hayate confirmed. "He ended up having to do community service in and around the school."

"When was this?" Shisui asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Almost five years ago. Why?"

"That would have been when Yakushi was working in the lab," Shisui said. He checked the time on his watch. It was only a couple minutes to eight. Perfect time to try and go wring some information out of their favorite suspect.

"Go figure," Aoba mumbled.

Shisui stood up, once again silencing the buzzing phone in his pocket when another text came through and nodded at Itachi.

"Come on. Let's go see what Yakushi knows about this Abumi kid."

* * *

Yakushi had been prepared.

He had his lawyer and had a nasty smug look on his face when they arrived at the county jail.

They brought him into a separate room where it was just Shisui, Itachi, Kabuto, and Kabuto's lawyer, a man with dark hair and goatee named Urushi.

"Good morning, Gentlemen," Yakushi said. He adjusted his glasses with his wrists still handcuffed together and smirked at where Shisui and Itachi were seated directly across from him.

The room wasn't unlike the interrogation one down at the station. The walls were grey, the lights were an ugly white, there was a two-way mirror, and the only furniture consisted of a table and some chairs.

"What brings you here so early?"

"I think you know," Shisui deadpanned. He didn't have any patience left for this guy.

"I don't actually," Yakushi said with a casual shrug.

"Another body turned up last night," Itachi said. How he managed to keep his voice so calm and relaxed, Shisui would never know.

"Mm," Kabuto hummed and shook his head. "Such a shame. I guess that means I'm not your guy after all."

Shisui could have wrung his scrawny neck.

"On the contrary," Itachi started. He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his FBI jacket, opened it up, and placed it on the table in front of Yakushi and his lawyer.

The paper was a photograph of the note they'd found on Zaku Abumi's body and Shisui couldn't wait to see how Yakushi tried to explain himself out of this one.

Yakushi leaned forward and looked at the paper.

He lost composure for a fraction of a second. His brow twitched and his mouth twisted into a crooked grimace, almost as if he was about to start laughing. But then he adjusted his glasses and just like that, he was a model of composure again.

"Any thoughts on that?" Itachi asked softly.

"Kabuto, I'd suggest that you don't say—"

"None," Yakushi said, cutting off his lawyer. "It's just interesting. Perhaps I have a fan club."

"Fan club," Shisui repeated under his breath with a snort.

Yakushi's eyes were on him in an instant and there was the distinct curve of a smirk slithering onto his lips.

"Surely, you'd expect that. How many serial killers are out there with devout followers? There was Hanzo the Salamander and Kaguya Otsutsuki. They both had devout followers. Why should this be any different?" Yakushi mused.

"Is that an admission?" Shisui pressed, wearing his own smirk.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses.

"Of course not," he said. "But I'm sure my name is in the papers and the people believe what's been published. I'm sure if you arrested anyone else there would be a different name on that piece of paper."

"This wasn't the work of a fanatic," Itachi responded. "This victim was killed in the same manner as all of the others."

"Then I'm simply not your guy," Yakushi said with an exaggerated sigh, almost as if he was bored.

"Or you have an accomplice," Shisui deadpanned.

"Agents, if you don't have any real questions for my client then I think we're—"

"Well then you'd better find proof," Yakushi said, once again interrupting his attorney. He leaned forward until the edge of the table was pressing against his chest. "Because my lips are sealed and the clock is ticking."

* * *

Jiraiya finally returned Hana's phone calls the next morning and Hana had never been so excited to hear from him before in her life.

"Finally!" she greeted, pressing the phone to her ear.

She got up from her cubicle at work and walked right past Genma and her other coworkers until she was outside of the _Byakugan Times_ office and in the hallway instead.

"Sorry, I've been planning for my next trip out to Mount Myoboku," Jiraiya told her. "What's got you so curious about Orochimaru anyway?"

Hana paced in the hallway, running her fingers through her hair and biting down on the side of her thumbnail.

"I'm just following a hunch," she said.

"Hm," Jiraiya hummed.

"You've always told me to trust my gut with these sorts of things," she pointed out.

One of her coworkers walked out of the office and into the hallway, shooting her a glance and Hana frowned.

She didn't need any of her peers to hear this conversation, so she walked down the hallway and to the stairs, taking them all the way down to the first floor and then slipping outside of the office building entirely to stand in one of the alleyways.

There was a hot summer breeze between the buildings and she pressed her back against one of them, already feeling herself beginning to sweat from the humidity.

"I have. I can only tell you so much about him. He had a falling out with me and Tsunade years ago."

"Why?"

"Let's just say we didn't agree with his ethics," Jiraiya mumbled. The discomfort of an old memory was obvious in his voice and Hana decided to move away from that subject. If he was uncomfortable then she doubted he would tell her much of anything.

"This might be a weird question, but does Orochimaru have a lot of money or something? Or does he know someone who's loaded that might be interested in his research?" she blurted. No point in beating around the bush after all.

"That _is_ a weird question," Jiraiya said. "I don't think so. Orochimaru grew up pretty poor if I'm being honest."

"So no contacts then? No person he met that was enthralled with his research and wanted to support it?"

"You're hung up on the money, Kid. What's that got to do with your story? Don't the cops already have someone in custody? I'm not sure why you're so stuck on Orochimaru and money," Jiraiya said.

"Jiraiya, you gotta trust me," she said. She wiped the sweat that beaded on her forehead.

It was going to be a hot one. It was barely even ten in the morning and she was sure that it was already almost ninety degrees.

Maybe she'd call her father after all and ask him to send someone out to fix the AC in her apartment. She didn't even want to think about how hot her place would be when she got home that night.

Jiraiya sighed but went on anyway with a soft, "all right. I don't think he knows anyone with the kind of money you're talking about though. There was a benefit gala held a couple years ago that Hiruzen sent a bunch of professors to. He wanted the school represented and sent me, Orochimaru, and a couple other professors. There was someone from the police department there that was talking to Orochimaru for most of the night about what he was researching. But I don't remember who it was and I doubt a city cop would have the kind of money you're wondering about."

Hana's brow furrowed and she nodded, even though she knew Jiraiya couldn't see it.

"Do you remember roughly when the gala was or the name of it?"

She knew Jiraiya was probably rolling his eyes and thinking that she was going down a rabbit hole, but thankfully he still indulged her.

"Don't remember the name but it was maybe three years ago in the middle of October and put on by Mito Uzumaki and Hashirama Senju."

That was more than enough information to go off of.

"Okay! Thank you, Jiraiya!" she said, unable to keep the grin off of her face.

"Hana wait," Jiraiya said just before she was about to say goodbye and hang up. "Just… Try to be careful, okay? You've got good instincts and most of the time your hunches lead you down the right path… But… You just…" he huffed in frustration as he searched for the right words. "You tend to get too close. So do me a favor and promise to pump the brakes before you end up in the middle of another shitstorm. Okay?"

Hana couldn't help but roll her eyes. How many times had she gotten this same lecture?

"I'll be fine, Jiraiya. It's just research," she tried.

"Promise me," he urged.

She huffed and wiped her forehead a second time as she continued to sweat.

"I promise," she said.

"Good."

They hung up after that and Hana was eager to get back inside and out of the hellish heat that was melting her.

She definitely would call her father at some point. There was no way she'd be able to survive a Konoha heatwave without any AC. With how hot and humid it was, she doubted her little window unit would suffice.

But for now, she pushed that thought out of her head and headed back to the office. First things first, she had to research that benefit gala and find the guest list.

* * *

Zaku Abumi was not a model college student by any standard and he _certainly_ was not a model citizen. Not by any stretch of the term.

Between his mile-long rap sheet and habit of turning up in places he wasn't supposed to be, the kid idolized serial killers.

He had lived alone, had no family other than a father who died in a car accident almost a decade ago, and had only found solace in niche groups that followed serial killers.

And sure enough, the evidence pointed them to the fact that Zaku Abumi was beyond interested in the Ryuchi Killings. He had pictures of the bodies (Shisui had no idea how he even got those pictures), knew the identity of every officer that worked the case (himself and Itachi included), and he had information on evidence that had never been released to the public.

Zaku Abumi had been a fanatic.

A well informed fanatic.

A _very_ well informed fanatic who had been in correspondence with both Kabuto Yakushi and a certain university professor who Shisui was starting to suspect more and more with each passing minute.

Hell, if anything, the evidence was showing that Abumi may have been more involved with the murders than anyone initially realized. It seemed that Abumi was almost being set up to be the fall guy by the real killer.

So what happened that Abumi ended up dead in Ryuchi Caves National Park?

Shisui's phone buzzed in his pocket and he huffed in frustration, ready to throw the goddamn thing across the room to see a text from Yumi.

She'd been up his ass all goddamn day about when they were getting coffee to "chat." Shisui had explicitly told her that something came up and he wouldn't be able to meet up and she hadn't liked that.

He'd been doing a fantastic job of ignoring her but she was goddamn relentless, pushing him until he finally texted her back saying if she had something important to tell him then she was better off just telling him over the phone because he didn't have time to meet up with her.

And that's exactly what happened.

Shisui glared absolute daggers at his phone when her name flashed across his screen as she called him and he abruptly stood up, shoved himself away from the conference room table, and stalked out into the hallway to have whatever bullshit conversation she wanted.

"What?" he hissed.

"Hello to you too, Shisui," Yumi remarked, voice already heavy with sarcasm.

He didn't have time for this. He had a dead fanatic, Kabuto Yakushi, and ticking clock all hanging over his head that had to be dealt with as of yesterday. So needless to say, he was _not_ in the mood for whatever bullshit Yumi had to spew.

"Make it quick because I'm running on zero hours of sleep and have more shit to deal with than you can even fathom," he snapped.

"So dramatic," she mumbled.

"_Yumi_," he barked.

"All right, all right," she said. "I didn't want to do this over the phone but since you're 'too busy' I'll just tell you now."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and waited for whatever stupid, irrelevant bomb she was planning on dropping.

Ebisu walked by and shot him a confused glance but Shisui didn't pay him any mind. He'd rather just get this over with in the hallway so he could get back to work as quickly as possible.

"Do you know that Hana Sarutobi is a journalist?"

Shisui pulled his hand away from the bridge of his nose and stared dumbly at the wall ahead of him.

What?

"Huh?" he blurted. "_That's_ what this is about?"

"Of course you know she's a journalist. She's proud of what she does and isn't exactly humble about it."

"Do you have a point to make?" he snapped, patience three seconds away from completely snapping.

"Ever since the killings started there's been one newspaper that consistently has had more information than anyone else. And I mean more information on the investigation, evidence, and suspects. Not to mention how fast the paper has been with the updates. The paper has been even more accurate than the news stations. Guess who I'm talking about, Shisui."

He still stared ahead, anger suddenly dissipating, almost as if it was evaporating off of his body.

He didn't say anything so Yumi went on.

"I'm talking about _Byakugan Times_, which coincidentally is the paper that Hana works for."

He didn't even have time to process what that meant because now that Yumi started, she wasn't going to stop.

"Mukai has a subscription to them. I was looking at some of the stories and I found the ones about the Ryuchi Killings. They were really good and I was totally hooked. I wanted to read everything by that author and when I looked to see who it was to follow them, I saw that it was Hana. She's the one covering the Ryuchi Killings."

Shisui's mouth felt dry. He didn't know what to say to that. He didn't even know how to feel. Just felt so _confused_.

"I don't know what you've been saying about the case, but if you've said anything at all, she's taken it and run with it," Yumi said. "She's been using you this whole time to further her career."

Shisui leaned against the wall. It felt cool against his back and he rested his head against it as well, rubbing the side of his jaw as he tried to work through the information.

He hadn't told Hana anything about the case. At least, he didn't think he had? He was pretty sure that he had been good about keeping his mouth shut regarding work. Sure, last night he told her that another body had been found, but as far as he knew, that information hadn't been released to the public until Shimura issued a statement that morning.

"I haven't said anything about the case," he croaked, grimacing at how hoarse his voice suddenly was.

"Not even during pillow talk? A girl like that knows how to get information out of someone, even if it means using her own body," Yumi deadpanned.

Shisui felt a headache coming on and his ears starting to ring.

He closed his eyes and continued running his hand across the side of his jaw and over his mouth.

He was an idiot, wasn't he?

"Are you okay?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah," he said under his breath.

His stomach hurt, his head pounded, and he suddenly felt very, very tired.

The first girl he actually risked taking a chance on since Yumi and this was how it turned out? Him being made a fool out of to further someone else's career?

His mind drifted back to the night of the wedding. He thought of the way she smiled and leaned into him when they slow danced, how he told her he actually liked her, how slow and tender they'd been with each other.

He was an idiot.

A fucking idiot.

"Like I said, I didn't want to tell you over the phone, but this is something you had a right to know," Yumi said.

He nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Thanks for telling me."

"I know you hate me, Shisui, but I just want you to know that I still care about you," she said. She used that soft voice she used to use on him when she wanted something and he felt nauseous.

Leave it to Yumi to try and use this against him.

He didn't say anything. He just hung up the phone and turned it off.

If someone had to get in touch with him then they could just call Itachi instead.

* * *

The research Hana did on the gala took up the rest of her day. She didn't look up from her research until half-past six when Genma finally patted her on the shoulder and interrupted her.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking away from the guest list. She'd been researching each guest to try and see who had enough money to fund something as expensive as Orochimaru's research, but that had been way easier said than done and she was barely a fourth of the way through the list.

"I got conned into bringing dinner for Raido's team. Wanna come with?" he asked after he popped a new toothpick into his mouth.

Hana pursed her lips.

There was so much more research left to do, but she could probably use a break. Plus, it would be nice to see Shisui and Itachi after having to leave so abruptly last night. Maybe it would be a nice way to break things up.

Not to mention, it was a nice way to delay going home to her stifling apartment.

"Sure," she said. "Just let me pack up and I'll meet you downstairs?"

"Sounds good," Genma said before walking away.

She threw her laptop and papers into her bag and hastily tried to scrape her hair back into a low messy bun. She had a tendency to mess with her hair when she got knee-deep in research and the last thing she wanted to do was see Shisui when she looked like such a hot mess. The least she could do was at least _try_ to tame her wavy hair.

She met Genma outside and followed him to Ichiraku's in her car and then down to the police station.

She was surprised how many people were there considering what time it was. She knew that some officers were on nightshift, but there seemed to be a lot more than usual.

Must have been because of the body found that morning.

Which reminded her, Mr. Hyuga had been bothering her all day to put out an article on that and she had steadily been avoiding him. She'd either have to bang out an article before tomorrow or come up with a damn good excuse for why she didn't have one at all.

Hana and Genma walked up the steps into the police station and walked through the front door. It was pretty dead in the "lobby" area, which was a good sign, right? It meant no idiots were getting brought in for dumb or reckless behavior. That meant the force could devote more resources to the Ryuchi Killings.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Hana looked over her shoulder just in time to see Ebisu emerging from one of the back hallways, already glaring daggers at both her and Genma.

"Would you chill out? I'm bringing my roommate dinner like I always do," Genma said with an eye roll.

"And Hana? Last I checked she doesn't live with Raido," Ebisu snarled. He almost looked like an angry cat with the way his lip curled.

"I'm helping with the food," she said with a grin, all too amused at how aggravated Ebisu was.

"We'll be quick. Now, are you gonna let us in or do I have to call Raido, interrupt him in the middle of a very important murder case, and have him come out here instead? Seems like a waste of time if you ask me," Genma said with a shrug.

Ebisu huffed and grumbled something under his breath that Hana couldn't quite hear, but he allowed them to head back anyway.

Genma led them down a very dull hallway until they reached a conference room. He knocked once and opened the door, leading them into a room filled with some very exhausted officers that were surrounded by paper coffee cups and pages upon pages of what Hana could only assume was evidence.

The conference room had an ugly brown patterned carpet, a round conference table, and a couple of desktop computers against the cream walls. The whole room was bathed in what Hana thought looked like hospital light and it wasn't until they came in with food did anyone seem to have any energy at all.

"Salvation!" Aoba groaned as he jumped up excitedly. Hana followed Genma's lead and set the food down on the table, looking around the room for either Shisui or Itachi.

Neither of them were there.

"Thanks," Hayate said.

"Where are the feds?" Genma asked so Hana didn't have to.

"Getting chewed out by Chief Shimura," Aoba said. He walked over to Hana and slung an arm across her shoulders and gave her a wicked grin. "When were you gonna tell me that you were messing around with a fed?"

"Bite me, Aoba," Hana retorted with a light laugh.

"I'd love to, Hana," he teased right back.

Nonetheless, he released her and shuffled through the bag for his food, shouldering Raido out of the way and earning a nasty glower from Genma.

"You doing okay?" Hana asked as she looked between Raido and Hayate.

"As okay as you can be on zero hours of sleep," Raido admitted with a sheepish smile.

"If Shimura was smart he'd let us leave for a couple hours to get some sleep. We're not doing any good when we're this tired," Hayate explained. "We need fresh eyes if we want to figure this thing out."

"Tell that to the chief. We're down to what? Just a little more than twenty-four hours until it happens ag—"

"Shut up, Aoba," Raido said as he cut Aoba off.

"Sorry," Aoba said as he held his hands up and smirked at both Hana and Genma. "Can't leak details to the press."

Genma scoffed but didn't press it and neither did Hana. Aoba had a big mouth after all. It was a wonder he got assigned to the case in the first place.

Then, a few moments later, the door opened again and in came Itachi and Shisui.

They looked even more exhausted than the rest of the team did and their shoulders slumped forward after getting ripped apart by the Chief of Police.

But at the very least, she expected Shisui to see her and give her at least a tired smile.

Which wasn't what happened.

He came in with Itachi, eyes cast downward, and when he saw her standing there, his eyes hardened and his shoulders that had been slumped forward suddenly pulled back, taut as a string.

Itachi winced and instead shifted his attention to Genma, opening his mouth to probably say thank you but was cut off before he even could begin by Shisui.

"What are you doing here?" Shisui asked.

Hana flinched. His tone was sharper than ice and for some reason, she felt like she'd just been caught doing something stupid like trying to sneak out of the house at sixteen.

"Genma was bringing dinner and asked if I wanted to come?" she said quietly. She wasn't sure why she phrased it like a question, but something was seriously wrong and she didn't like the way his sharp gaze cut into her.

As if remembering where he was, Shisui blinked and looked around the room. All eyes were on him and save for Itachi, everyone seemed just as confused as she did.

"You good, Shisui?" Aoba mumbled.

"Can we talk for a minute?" Shisui snapped, his attention once again on Hana, and not in a good way.

"Uh sure?"

She hesitantly followed him out of the conference room and risked one look over her shoulder, intending on sharing a glance with Genma but instead found her eyes locking with Itachi's. Itachi's brows knit together, almost as if he was sad or disappointed, and gave a deep sigh.

Once she was out in the hallway of the station, Shisui took hold of her upper arm and guided her down the hallway until they reached a dead end so they were further away from the conference room and anyone else who might have been walking by.

"Is something wrong?" she asked when he promptly released her and went back to glaring at her.

"Is something wrong?" he repeated. He let out a harsh laugh and placed on hand on his hip and used the other hand to rub the side of his jaw. "You're kidding, right? _Is something wrong? _What do you think?"

Her eyes darted to the side. She felt trapped and claustrophobic with the way his angry dark eyes bore into her.

"Well yeah. That's why I asked," she said quietly.

He gave her that angry laugh again. The short one that was all aggravation and frustration.

"That's rich," he snapped.

Hana pressed her back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. She forced her eyes to meet his and hold them there.

"Well Christ, Shisui. Don't keep me in suspense. What the hell's the matter?" she finally asked.

"'_What's the matter?'_" he repeated again. "Seriously? Am I a fuckin' joke to you?"

She blinked in utter disbelief. What was going on? Just last night he had been hugging her and kissing her and asking her to tell him when she got home safe. Now he was looking at her as if she was nothing more than vermin.

"What the hell is your problem?" she demanded as her eyes widened in frustration.

"You wanna know what my problem is?" he snapped, voice already rising.

"Yeah, that's why I asked!" she snapped right back, voice rising to match his.

"My problem is _you_ and your stupid little fuckin' newspaper and the fact that the whole reason you've been sleeping with me is so you could use me to get whatever information you could about the murders so you could further your own career!" he shouted.

Hana could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.

Her ears rang and her heart thudded against her chest hard enough to make her wonder if she was about to have a heart attack.

In her peripheral vision, she could see the guys with their heads poking out of the conference room and someone who she was pretty sure was Ebisu looking down the hallway at them.

And Hana could have cried.

"Shisui, listen to me—"

He scoffed, "you don't even deny it! You don't even have a single shred of remorse, do you?"

The backs of her eyes felt hot and there was that stupid lump in her throat again.

"If you would just let me explai—" her voice got caught right at the top of her lungs.

"Explain _what?_" he pressed. "Explain how you're sorry but that you _had_ to do it because you've got some sort of inferiority complex after your award-winning pieces? Because you've been covering pointless shit ever since you came back from Ame and Suna and that this was your one chance to get back on top? Fucking save it! There are actual lives at stake! People are _dying!_"

Despite how foggy her eyesight was she still managed a glare, no matter how weak it was.

"You think I don't know that?" she whispered. "Do you have _any_ idea what it's like going from groundbreaking stories that are actually meaningful to covering which celebrity is having an affair and which one is getting married next month? I won't apologize for seeing an opportunity and taking it," she said as she clenched her hands into fists.

Shisui stared at her in disbelief and shook his head.

"Yeah?" his voice came back down to a horribly soft tone. "So that's what this was? That's what _I_ was? An opportunity?"

She groaned and wiped at her eyes, trying to dispel the fogginess and said, "Shisui, no! You're not listening—"

"I'M LISTENING JUST FINE!" he shouted, finally having enough and breaking completely.

That had been enough to draw the attention of the Chief of Police and only seconds later Chief Shimura was stomping down the hallway and gritting his teeth.

"What the hell is going on here!"

Shisui looked away from her and planted one hand back on his hip and used the other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he looked down at the floor in frustration. Hana, on the other hand, sniffled and looked up at a ceiling light so she wouldn't start crying.

"This is a police station, not a goddamn soap opera set!" Shimura shouted. He settled his attention on Hana and bristled. "Sarutobi, get the hell out of here! I don't care who your father is, I won't have you lurking around here like a goddamn _buzzard!_"

She didn't need to be told twice. She just crossed her arms over herself and walked as quickly as she possibly could, ignoring Genma and Raido, and shouldering her way past a concerned Ebisu until she was outside on the steps of the police station and staring up into the night sky that was full of stars.

After she somewhat composed herself, she started heading over to her car, and that was when Genma ran over to her, anchoring a hand on her elbow and forcing her to come to stop.

She pulled away from him and tried to keep walking to her car.

"Hey," Genma insisted, keeping up with her.

"I'm fine," she snapped, even though the quivering in her voice said differently.

"I know," he said. He obviously didn't believe her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said, "you wanna come over? You can sleep in Raido's bed. He won't mind."

She wrapped her arms around her torso and looked up at the stars again when her eyes started to get hot.

"No thanks. I just want to go home."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Yo I am SO sorry I did not update last week. It was literally hell week. 2 midterms, 4 assignments (2 of which I failed lol), and a quiz for my hardest class. Sooooo there was NO time to update. Pls forgive me lol.**_

_**THANK YOU: mide1718, Ki, kankananime123, evabrennan, Kellie, jenxtt (it wouldn't let me include the period in your username), and Hard-Knock-Life (I think that's everyone) for all the reviews!(:**_

_**Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you! See you next week!(:**_


	19. Chapter 19

Sasuke wasn't normally this nosy. Most of the time he opted for minding his own business and staying out of 99.99% of things that didn't concern him.

This was different.

Things at the lab were getting weird. Ever since the cops arrested Orochimaru's former research assistant for the murders, things had been tense.

Orochimaru rarely came to the lab when Sasuke and the other research assistants were there, which was unlike him. Normally, he didn't trust them all to be unaccompanied with such precious research, but he hadn't been around in days.

Then there was the startling jump in the amount of work laid on them. An experiment that normally would have taken a week to conduct was now expected to be done in only one or two days.

Not to mention, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had been stopping by to talk with Orochimaru all week, and every time the president came by Orochimaru was nowhere to be found. Tayuya even told the president one time that he should just call Orochimaru and leave them alone, but something on the president's face told Sasuke that he already tried that.

Sasuke naturally started questioning everyone about what was going on, but they either didn't know or didn't want Sasuke to know, so he was left in the dark.

He didn't know how the hell he was expected to act like everything was normal and just fine when there was a clear connection between the string of murders and Orochimaru's research. And Sasuke wasn't someone to idly sit by and twiddle his thumbs as the shit hit the fan.

So that led him to where he was now.

Waiting to meet up with Anko Mitarashi at a rundown coffee shop that had floorboards sticking up, smoke-stained walls, and old ripped furniture on the north side of the city.

Tracking her down hadn't been easy. The other research assistants pretended like she never existed and Sasuke wasn't the best at playing detective, but he ended up tracking her down with the help of Sakura.

Turned out that having a friend in the journalism school was actually kinda useful.

Sakura may have been the one who found Anko's email but it was Sasuke who got the woman to respond. All he had to do was mention that he was working for Orochimaru and had some questions and she responded right away.

She didn't want to talk to him via email because she didn't want anything in writing. She also didn't want to talk to him on the phone for fear of someone listening in.

So that brought them to a coffee shop. And despite how out of the way it might have been, Sasuke didn't mind.

Not if it gave him answers.

Anko sorta reminded Sasuke of a combination of Tayuya and Sakura. She was brash like the two girls but was also wicked smart. Not to mention, but when Sasuke saw some of her publications he'd been more than impressed.

She'd cut her teeth in Orochimaru's lab and was now fairly well known in the scientific community.

And you know what? Sasuke respected that.

"Aren't you a little young to be working with Orochimaru?" Anko asked.

She slipped into the cracked wooden chair across from him with a drink in hand and a confused smirk on her face.

"My age is irrelevant. I'm good at what I do," Sasuke said.

"I'm sure you are," Anko said with a light laugh. "So let's hear it. What questions do you have for me?"

Sasuke was never one for small talk so he wasted no time in getting to the point.

"You worked with the Zetsu cells, right?"

"That's right," Anko said with a nod.

"Did you ever have any theories on how to make them work on a living person?"

Anko's frown was instantaneous. She pursed her lips and tightened her hold on her drink before she answered with a slow, "this is dangerous stuff you're talking about, Kid."

"I'm aware of that. I'm only asking because the other research assistants have mentioned that Orochimaru has a theory on how to do this but they won't tell me."

Anko narrowed her eyes.

"You're curious because of the Ryuchi Killings. Aren't you?" she asked.

Sasuke was careful not to break eye contact with her. He didn't want her to think that he wasn't serious about this.

"Can you blame me?"

"No. I can't," Anko said with a heavy sigh. She took a sip of her drink and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm only telling you this because you obviously aren't the normal type he takes on. Usually, his assistants kiss the ground he walks on and never question anything he does. I know because I used to be one of those types."

Sasuke stiffened at the admission.

"Orochimaru once had a theory that the Zetsu cells would only work on an exceptionally healthy person. Someone who was an endurance athlete or professional performer of some sort. He thought that it had to be someone young and who worked their body every day. Which I'm sure you've noticed is pretty consistent with the victims who have been turning up in Ryuchi Caves National Park."

"That's right. But it seems like a stupid hypothesis anyway considering that the Zetsu cells are used to repair damage," Sasuke muttered.

Anko snickered and nodded.

"I agree, as did Orochimaru. Then he shifted his hypothesis in the other direction. He thought that maybe only the very sickly could handle the cells. And since you're working on his research right now, I'm sure you know that didn't work either. The cells only work if used on a body drained of blood."

"So what's the current hypothesis?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, I can't tell you. I haven't worked with him for quite some time, but I'd imagine that he's somewhere in between. Right when I was leaving he was starting to look into people who traveled abroad frequently and who had been exposed to various sorts of illnesses. At the time, he thought that maybe exposure to foreign disease was the key to figuring out how to use the cells. I don't know if he ever pursued that route or not though."

Sasuke stared and rubbed the bottom of his chin.

_That_ was something new.

And come to think of it, he had seen Tayuya with journals on the effects of foreign diseases.

But it just didn't make sense. Why hide that? If there was a potential breakthrough right around the corner, why be so secretive?

It just didn't add up.

"Where do you think I'd find this research?" Sasuke finally asked.

Anko's eyes glinted.

"Didn't you hear me? I haven't worked with him for a while now. I don't know," she said. She looked off to the side where a student typed away on her laptop and Sasuke's brow furrowed.

"But you do know, don't you?"

Anko huffed, "as I said before, this is dangerous stuff. Anytime you go experimenting on living people there are repercussions. You're better off just finishing the semester, slapping the assistantship on your resume, and moving on with your life. Go do something that _doesn't_ involve human experimentation."

Sasuke crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side.

"Is that what you did? Or did you find something you didn't like and leave because of it?"

An unmistakable look of regret passed over her face.

"I left for personal reasons," she insisted.

He didn't respond to that. He just held her gaze the same way Fugaku did to Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui as kids growing up. If he could just channel his father for a few moments then he was sure Anko would tell him where to look.

And sure enough, it worked.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," she said. "I don't know if he still does it, but Orochimaru and some of the other faculty used to hold a dinner at the end of the year for the students and research assistants. It was always hosted at Orochimaru's house since he has a pretty large property.

"My last year I wandered into the library and was going through some of his research notes and found some things there. That's where you're likely going to find something—in his personal library in old research journals."

Sasuke couldn't help it when he scoffed.

"How the hell am I supposed to get into his personal library in his own house?"

Anko didn't hesitate, didn't bat an eye, didn't even so much as blink. Her answer was plain as day and left Sasuke feeling as if this whole meetup was pointless.

"That's the thing, Sasuke. You're not supposed to."

* * *

Hana must have been staring at Zaku's face on her computer screen for a solid thirty minutes before Genma laid on a hand on her shoulder.

"You look freaked out," he said.

Hana's eyes flickered back to the screen. It was an article from _The Konoha Post_ talking about the most recent murder. Her own article on the matter had been subpar and Mr. Hyuga let her know that.

Not that she really cared though.

"I knew him," she said without taking her eyes off of his face. "He was one of my sources."

There was a long beat of silence and Hana pulled her gaze away from the computer and focused it on Genma instead.

"He was one of those creeps you met up with that night in the park, wasn't he?"

Hana pushed herself away from her desk and got out of the computer chair, stretching her arms over her head.

"Yep," she said. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and waited for Genma to get out of her way.

He didn't.

He just stood there, blocking her path out of her little cubicle with his brows draw together, arms crossed, and lips pulling into a frown.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Are you okay?" he asked, completely ignoring her question.

She crossed her arms and said, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," he said.

"That's because it's over a hundred degrees out and my place _still_ has no AC so I didn't really sleep. I'm fine," she reiterated with an eye roll.

"So _that's_ why you didn't sleep," Genma hummed. "Had nothing to do with a certain fed—"

"Please stop," she said, even though it came out as more of a whimper. She winced at the sound of her own voice and shouldered her way around Genma. "I'm getting coffee from Yamanaka's. You want anything?"

"I'm all right. You want some company?"

"Nope," she said without looking back.

She was sure Genma was probably rolling his eyes at her behavior but she didn't dwell on it. She just didn't have the stomach for it.

Her thoughts were like a hurricane in her head. First, there was the fact that the killer was still somewhere out there, then there was the Zaku thing, then there was that paper trail she'd been trying to follow to connect things to Orochimaru…

And then there was what happened with Shisui last night hanging over her head like a black cloud.

Her stomach churned and suddenly she wasn't so sure if she wanted coffee or not.

She stepped outside and was instantly assaulted with the sweltering heat and humidity from the current heatwave. She seethed through hair teeth and immediately gathered her hair together and tied it up in a loose bun.

Despite wearing a white t-shirt and loose fitted pants, she was already sweating. She groaned and took quick steps across the busy Konoha street and down the block to where the café was.

Once she was inside she was greeted with wonderfully cool air and she sighed in relief, fanning herself with the collar of her shirt that was already sticking to her back and chest with sweat.

Christ, she was over the summer and its godforsaken heat.

She caught her breath and walked over to the coffee bar rather than the dining room of the café and looked over the menu.

The menu was a black chalkboard that had all the items beautifully handwritten on it in colored chalk. It was one of the many little things that made the little coffee shop so aesthetically pleasing.

Hana loved it, what with its black and white tiled floors and big arching windows in the dining room.

Shisui liked it too when they had breakfast there the morning after the wedding and suddenly Hana's stomach churned again.

She grimaced in spite of herself and swallowed back the lump in her throat just in time for the barista to take her order.

Stomach still in shambles, she opted for ordering a small iced tea with lemon.

She paid and waited off to the side for her drink and looked around the room. From where she was standing she could see directly into the dining room and she noticed right away a large group sitting right by one of those arching windows against the back wall of the café.

Each person at the table was dressed up in either a business suit or a work dress and that's when Hana's eyes connected with a stunning black haired woman at the table.

The woman saw Hana at the same Hana saw her and sure enough, she started to excuse herself from the table and make her way over to Hana.

Hana looked away and nervously bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, wishing like hell that her tea would be ready in the next three seconds.

"It's Hana, right?"

Fucking hell. So much for that.

Hana reached deep for whatever courage she had left and straightened her shoulders and held her chin high when the gorgeous financial advisor stood directly in front of her.

"Yeah. How are you, Yumi?" she asked without so much as offering a smile.

Yumi, on the other hand, gave Hana a smile so bright that she felt like she was looking into the goddamn sun.

"I'm doing pretty well," Yumi began. She smoothed out the blue dress she wore that hugged all of her curves just right and Hana hated her just a little bit more. "Listen, I had no idea that you were the one covering the Ryuchi Killings."

Hana blinked.

What the hell?

"Yeah," she murmured as she narrowed her eyes.

"I know it's not what you usually write about, but I just wanted to say that your articles on it have been great. My boyfriend and I are subscribed to the paper. I can't believe I didn't know who you were when we first met."

Hana Sarutobi was not an idiot.

She did not spend months navigating through the political chess games of Suna or maneuvering her way around rebels and loyalists in Ame to be so easily bested by a financial advisor who had never been inconvenienced before her in her life.

She picked up on what was between the lines faster than Yumi probably even realized what exactly she was saying.

"Oh yeah?" Hana asked, slapping a smile on her face. "What's your favorite column?"

"I'm sorry?" Yumi asked, puckering her lips slightly in a pout.

"Your favorite column? You know, of the paper? You must have one if you're paying almost forty bucks a month to be a subscriber," she deadpanned.

"Oh," Yumi said with her eyes growing. "You'd have to talk to my boyfriend about that. He's much more of an avid reader than I am."

Hana nodded just as her tea came out. She grabbed it quickly before returning her attention to Yumi.

She wasn't going to let her get off that easily.

"So do you only read the paper when your ex is sleeping with one of the writers?" Hana asked, pushing the straw into her tea and taking a sip of it.

Yumi's lips parted in surprise and Hana's hand began to tremble.

"I have a meeting to get back to. I just wanted to congratulate you on how great the paper was doing," Yumi said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Yeah thanks," Hana said. Yumi started to walk away but Hana went on with a sharp, "oh and thanks for telling Shisui about what I was doing too. Getting ripped a new one in a police station where all of my friends could hear every word was just the icing on the cake to a perfect day."

Hana's words that dripped sarcasm and venom stopped Yumi dead in her tracks. She turned back around and looked at Hana with a remarkably passive look on her face. No tension in her brows, no tautness in her mouth. She looked completely relaxed and it pissed Hana off.

"Even if I did what you're saying I did, Shisui had a right to know that he was being used," Yumi said with a shrug of her tiny shoulders.

Hana could have kicked her ass if she wanted to. It would have been easy. Yumi was small and Hana towered over her. Just one swing and she would have been knocked flat on her ass.

"Is that why you told him? So he knew about the big bad journalist? Or did you tell him because you were jealous that he was with me and not you?"

Yumi actually laughed and gave Hana another smile, though this one wasn't as sweet as the one before.

"Honey, I'm happily in a relationship. And if you liked him so much you wouldn't have done what you did in the first place," Yumi said.

Hana smirked and shook her head.

"Well if you liked him so much then you wouldn't have cheated on him with his coworker," Hana said back. This time she was the one who shrugged her shoulders and Yumi bristled, finally glowering at Hana.

"I don't have to justify myself to you," Yumi said. "Now if you'll excuse me, some of us have real jobs to get back to."

Hana's blood boiled but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to start a scene, no matter how satisfying it might have been.

Besides, Yumi won already.

What was the point?

Hana left the café and walked back over to her office building. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and fanned herself with the collar of her shirt again. She should have brought a change of clothes or something because now she was going to be sweaty and gross for the rest of the day.

She got back to the _Byakugan Times_ office and barely took a sip from her tea. She felt too sick and when she finally reached her cubicle she pushed the drink off to the side.

She buried her face in her hands and took slow, steady breaths to try and ease the nausea in her stomach.

She wished she'd told Shisui the truth.

She wished she'd never tried to use him.

She wished she'd never stolen the story from Yamato.

"Hey."

Hana pulled her face out of her hands to see Genma looking at her from his own cubicle, phone in hand and a bored look on his face.

"Assuming Raido gets to come home tonight, it's my turn to make dinner. Wanna come over? We've got working AC."

Hana sighed. She knew he meant well but she just wanted to be left alone.

"I'm all right," she said offhandedly. "You and Raido can have your romantic dinner alone."

"…Uh? What was that?" Genma asked.

She spun around in her chair, angling it so she faced Genma more directly and proceeded to pick at the corner of her nails, mind still lost in the hurricane from the thoughts inside her head.

"C'mon, Genma," she said. She looked at her nails and began to pick at her cuticle. Geez, she needed a manicure. At this rate, Ebisu would have nicer hands than her. "Don't act dumb. We all know Raido's had a crush on you since we were kids."

The words were out of her mouth before she could think better of it and as soon as they were, her eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Genma, wait I didn't—"

Genma's face said it all.

His brown eyes widened and his mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but couldn't find the right words.

"I shouldn't have said that. Pretend like I didn't say that. You honestly shouldn't even take a single thing I say seriously right now because I'm just in a bitchy mood about what happened with Shisui so please just—"

Genma cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes darted to the side and he fidgeted in his seat.

Fucking Christ, she couldn't keep her fat mouth shut, could she?

"Genma—"

"No, it's… It's fine," he said.

"I'm not kidding. I'm not exactly in the right headspace right now so I'm just blowing hot air. Just ignore me, okay? Please. It's nothing. I swear."

"It's okay," Genma said. "Um. I kinda had an idea. I guess it's just weird actually hearing it from someone."

Hana squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could, as if that would somehow undo her actions.

But it didn't work like that.

When she opened her eyes Genma was still sitting there, looking all uncomfortable and awkward as he continued to rub the back of his neck.

"Listen, I just—"

"Yeah, I gotta go to the bathroom," Genma said.

He got up and walked away from her without so much as a glance in her direction. She groaned and rubbed her hands across her face.

'_Way to royally fuck things up, Sarutobi.'_

Way to royally fuck things up.

* * *

Fugaku didn't pull his punches.

He didn't pull his punches in a literal sense and he certainly didn't pull them in a figurative sense either.

So when he showed up at the police station an entire day early, Shisui knew that he and Itachi were fucked.

Fugaku wasted no time meeting with Danzo, the rest of the team, and then pulling Itachi and Shisui into an empty office to thoroughly rake them over the coals.

And he did.

Oh boy, he did.

"Issuing a statement that you have the killer in custody when you _don't_, not having any other leads than the person you _already_ have in custody, and what? Four dead bodies? Is there something I'm missing here?" Fugaku snapped.

Shisui and Itachi shot each other a look through their peripherals, each of them shrinking back into the office chairs of the small room while Fugaku sat on the other side of the desk and looked at different reports.

"And what, pray tell, is this shit in here about you sleeping with a reporter, Shisui?" Fugaku snapped. He looked up from the report and settled a wicked glare on Shisui that made his skin crawl.

"She's not a reporter, she's a journalist," he muttered, averting his eyes.

Fugaku stood up just enough to reach across the desk and whack Shisui as hard as humanly possible with the stack of reports he held.

"Reporter, journalist, press—it's all the same! Did I not raise you better? Don't you know better than to shit where you eat?" Fugaku pretty much shouted, whacking Shisui again and making his arm actually sting.

Shisui winced and bit down on the inside of his cheek to avoid arguing with his uncle.

No good ever came from that.

"To be fair—"

"Don't you dare encourage him, Itachi," Fugaku warned. He pointed a finger at his son and Itachi's shoulders deflated.

Silence descended upon the room and Shisui pinched the bridge of his nose.

Because he didn't already feel shitty enough about what happened with Hana. It's not like his chest still burned every time he thought about her and the awful things he said to her last night. It's not like he felt a pit of emptiness in his gut at the realization that he wasn't good enough _again_. Just throw in a good old fashioned Fugaku lecture on top of it all. What could possibly go wrong?

Fugaku sighed and shuffled the papers around.

"Fortunately for you two, I'm here. I'm taking over this investigation now and we're going to do things my way," Fugaku deadpanned. Shisui didn't even have the energy to argue with him the way he knew he should have. It just wasn't worth it. "That means no personal phone calls, no friends bringing you punks dinner, and no talking to anyone from the press. Understood?"

Shisui and Itachi both nodded, just in time for Fugaku to toss two sets of files down on the desk.

"Good. Now let's get to work."

* * *

Genma avoided Hana for the rest of the day and all she could do was hope that he could at least act normal for Raido's sake. She didn't think she'd be able to handle Raido being mad at her too, not after all they'd done for each other.

She left work right around five and got home not long after.

And sure enough, the apartment was just as hot and disgusting as she had anticipated.

She walked through her front door and immediately groaned.

She wasted no time peeling her clothes off as she walked to her bedroom. She already removed her shirt and unbuttoned her pants as she pushed the door open into her cool bedroom.

Only her bedroom wasn't cool.

It felt just as hot as the rest of her apartment.

"You've got to be shitting me," she whined. She walked over to the window unit and tried to turn it off and on a few times, but it was to no avail.

The thing was shot.

She must have burnt it out or something with how high she'd been running it the last few days with the heatwave.

It was a minor inconvenience. Just a setback that honestly was not a huge deal, especially considering that she got the window unit for dirt cheap. And for what it was worth, it did do the trick.

But that minor inconvenience was enough to push her over the edge and before she even knew what was happening, she burst into a fit of tears and collapsed onto the edge of her bed, crying into her hands.

Her body shook as a sob escaped her body and she couldn't help but wrap her arms around her torso as she cried, trying in some vain attempt to hold herself together.

She couldn't do anything right.

She couldn't even do something as simple as getting her AC fixed or keep a goddamn window unit working.

She just had to ruin everything, didn't she?

First Shisui, then Genma, now this? Why was it so fucking hard to not mess something up for once in her pathetic life?

It was only a matter of time before Raido called her and ripped her a new one too.

Hell, it would have been justified.

Hana cried harder and harder until she had no more tears left.

Then she collected herself with a few sniffles, put on a tank top and some shorts, and made her way into the living room to work on her next article.

She sipped on a water bottle as she pulled up her research. She should have been following (or at least trying to follow) the paper trail that would lead her to Orochimaru.

It just didn't seem like such a great idea anymore.

Plus, what was the point? The feds were already investigating the case. She didn't need to stick her nose where it didn't belong.

Maybe she should just let it die.

She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair, just in time to hear a knock at her front door.

Hana's entire body stiffened.

She didn't know who the hell would be knocking on _her_ door of all places. Asuma had a spare key and Genma would have just texted. And it sure as fuck wasn't Shisui.

So who…

"This is HVAC. We got a call about a busted air conditioner," came a man's voice from the other side of the door.

Hana blinked in surprise.

She hadn't called anyone? Then again, maybe her dad did? It wasn't unlike him to call and send someone out to fix something at her place or Asuma's. He was pretty good when it came to that sort of thing.

It was just weird that he didn't tell her.

Not thinking better of it and willing to do anything to get out of the godforsaken heat, she walked up to her front door and pulled it open without thinking better of it.

Only it wasn't an HVAC repairman or anyone from maintenance.

It was Kin and Dosu?

"Um. What the hell, Guys?" Hana said as she narrowed her eyes.

"It was the only way we'd get you to open your door," Kin said easily.

Hana took a step back.

"Okay?" she mumbled. "How'd you get into the building?"

"We have our ways," Dosu said. He stared her down and Hana swallowed. She took another step back, ready to slam the door shut in an instant if she had to.

Every hair on the back of her neck stood up and she could hear her heart pound loudly away in her ears.

This was all wrong. She needed to get away from these guys.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Zaku," she said softly.

There was a flash of remorse on Kin's face. Brief and hardly noticeable, but Hana still caught it nonetheless.

"Zaku was chosen," Dosu said. His voice was eerily quiet and Hana's hand tightened on her door.

"What does that mean?" Hana mumbled.

Kin and Dosu were both silent. Then, Dosu produced something from his pocket and that was enough for Hana.

She slammed the door shut but Dosu was fast and he caught it.

She slammed all of her body weight against the door, hoping for it to be enough, but it wasn't.

Dosu was _strong_ and he had no trouble shoving the door so it opened and Hana stumbled back deeper into her apartment.

"Zaku was chosen," Dosu said again. "And so were you."

They were both so fast and in an instant, Hana's struggling was subdued when a white cloth was pressed over her nose and mouth.

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Kin's purple ribbon.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**THANK YOU: Random Stranger, nadia4245, Ki, MiyuKazu, and Kellie for all the reviews! I love y'all seriously thank you!**_

_**Also, I know in the first chapter I said there would be 27 chapters give or take a few as I edit. Well just wanted to let y'all know that it's down to 24 chapters-so we're getting close to the end! I updated this on AO3 but figured I should let everyone over here know as well.**_

_**Leave any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:**_


	20. Chapter 20

"Maybe it wasn't the actual killer," Raido suggested. "Maybe Kabuto really is our guy and this was just some copycat."

"Yeah," Aoba agreed with a head nod. "They left a note that said they would do it again in forty-eight hours. Well, it's been forty-eight hours and no one has turned up in Ryuchi Caves."

Fugaku didn't look impressed, only mildly annoyed.

"That doesn't mean anything," he said.

Shisui rubbed the back of his head. The words of the report blurred in front of him as his eyelids became heavier and heavier. He could have fallen asleep standing up at this rate. The few hours of sleep he managed to grab last night were not enough to catch the killer and they definitely were not enough to keep up with Fugaku's relentless workload.

"I've compiled a list of potential subjects we should take a look at. This most recent victim was a gold mine of information," Fugaku said.

Shisui wanted to bang his head against a brick wall.

He understood where Fugaku was coming from and why he ran such a tight ship, but it was exhausting.

How were they supposed to catch a murderer when they were all so sleep deprived?

"Orochimaru is on this list," Hayate said through a few coughs.

"That's right," Fugaku said. "Is that a problem?"

"Chief Shimura has been pretty adamant on looking elsewhere," Aoba said.

Fugaku's gaze was sharp enough to cut glass and Shisui almost felt bad for Aoba when his uncle's wicked glare landed on him.

"Any particular reason why?" Fugaku asked.

"He doesn't think Orochimaru is capable of something like that?" Aoba's voice hitched under that stare and Shisui sighed. His heart went out to the guy, it really did.

He couldn't even count how many times Fugaku had given him that exact glare while growing up.

"Under the right circumstances, anyone can be capable of murder. Understood?" Fugaku said.

"Yes, Sir," Aoba squeaked.

"Good," Fugaku said. "I'm going to meet with Chief Shimura. I don't want to see a single one of you here when I get back. I want every single one of you out in the field, working through that list. That includes you two," Fugaku said with a nod at Shisui and Itachi.

"Understood," Itachi said.

"Shisui?" Fugaku said.

Shisui nodded at his uncle and once Fugaku was reasonably assured they were actually going to do their job, he left the conference room.

"Raido, you good? You're all twitchy today," Aoba said.

Shisui yawned and absentmindedly looked over at the scarred man. Raido's eyes were bloodshot like the rest of them and Shisui wished like hell that Fugaku would have given them more than four hours to sleep last night.

"Yeah, just…" Raido trailed off and shook his head with a strained smile. "Ah nevermind. I'm sure it's nothing."

"That's how you know it's something," Hayate mumbled. He stood up from the table and stretched his arms over his head. "Let's go. I'm gonna pass out if I sit here any longer."

"We've got the first set of names," Raido said. "You guys got the rest?"

Itachi nodded and brought a paper cup of coffee to his lips.

Shisui yawned a second time and looked over the names towards the bottom of the list.

Orochimaru, Kin Tsuchi, and Dosu Kinuta.

"Kin Tsuchi and Dosu Kinuta. Those two were friends with Abumi, right?" Shisui asked Itachi.

"That's right," Itachi said. "He spent most of his time with them. We know where Tsuchi lives and works, but we know next to nothing about Kinuta."

"We should go to her first then and see what she knows," Shisui said.

Itachi nodded in agreement.

They each stood up and started to get their things together to go out into the field when Itachi broke the uneasy silence that settled over them.

"Talk to Hana at all?"

Shisui faltered as he slipped his FBI jacket on and looked over at his cousin.

"What?"

"You heard me," Itachi said.

"I don't think now is the best time to talk about this," he said as his stomach twisted.

"Just something to talk about on our way to talk to Tsuchi," Itachi said casually. He followed Shisui out of the conference room and out of the station to their car. "You were pretty torn up about it."

"I really don't want to talk about this," Shisui retorted.

"You're going to have to talk about it eventually," Itachi said. He sounded supremely unbothered and Shisui once again found himself wishing he had even an ounce of his cousin's self control.

"Or never," Shisui said with an eye roll.

"I just think that maybe you should talk and—"

"There's nothing to talk about, all right?" Shisui snapped. He stopped right on the steps of the station and looked his cousin dead in the eye. "Nothing. She used me to get information on the murders for her stupid little paper. She even admitted it. So there isn't anything to talk about."

"I'm not saying what she did was right, Shisui. But I am saying that maybe you should listen to the rest of her side of the story," Itachi replied, still calm as ever.

Shisui groaned and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm not doing this right now. I _can't_ do this right now. Can we please just focus on the case and catch this killer so I can finally get some goddamn shut-eye?"

Itachi's eyes glinted and there was something in his expression that Shisui couldn't quite read, but thankfully his cousin dropped the subject with a defeated sigh and started to head over to their car.

Shisui would never say it out loud, but he really hoped Kin Tsuchi didn't have any freckles.

He didn't think his heart would be able to take it if she did.

* * *

Genma sat in the conference room for their weekly Friday morning meeting. The rest of the writers and some of the editors sat around the table as Mr. Hyuga droned on about something Genma wasn't paying attention to.

Instead, his eyes continually drifted to the empty seat beside him.

No one sat next to him because Hana usually did.

But she wasn't there.

At first, he had half the mind to think that maybe she and Shisui made up and that she was at his place, but he doubted that. Even if she had spent the night at his house she would have shown up. Hana didn't miss meetings. For as much as she hated writing about celebrities and weddings, she still took her job seriously.

Then he wondered if she was avoiding him because of the Raido comment from yesterday, but that didn't seem like her. If anything, Genma should have been the one avoiding her (which he admittedly kinda did the day before).

Something was off and Genma could feel it in the pit of his stomach.

When the meeting finally ended, Mr. Hyuga came right up to Genma and narrowed his light eyes into slits.

"Where is Sarutobi?"

Genma could feel his lips twist into a frown.

"I don't know, Sir. I texted her but I haven't gotten a response," he said.

Mr. Hyuga raised an eyebrow and plunged his hands into the pockets of his pinstripe suit.

"How unlike her," he muttered. "Fill her in on the meeting when you hear back."

Mr. Hyuga exited the conference room with the others and Genma lingered back for a moment. He checked his phone again but there was no response.

He sighed and stood up, finally making his way out of the room and heading back to his cubicle.

Once he was seated at his desk, his eyes drifted over to Hana's cubicle.

Just as with most things in her life, Hana's work area was a mess. Loose papers and news articles littered the entire desk, a few photographs were haphazardly pinned to the walls, and the number of water bottles strewn about almost resembled a graveyard at this point.

He rubbed his forehead and checked the time.

If he didn't hear back by that afternoon he would stop by her apartment.

She was probably just sick after all.

Nothing to be worried about.

* * *

Kin Tsuchi worked at Otogakure, a speakeasy downtown that often had live jazz. And thankfully she happened to be at work that morning to set up for an event that night.

Shisui and Itachi entered the club and even in the middle of the morning, they'd been charmed by the club's interior design.

The owner definitely did their research because everything from the wood panel walls, the soft yellow lighting, and vintage furniture felt authentic and not cheesy.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed," a girl with brown hair and dark eyes said the minute the two of them entered the bar.

"Well good because we're here on business," Shisui said as he and Itachi flashed their badges. "We're looking for Kin Tsuchi. She around at all?"

The girl's eyes widened and they flickered between him and Itachi.

"We just have a few questions for her," Itachi said with a soft smile.

Her cheeks flushed when Itachi smiled at her, bringing attention to a freckle just beneath her eye.

"Um. Just a second," she said, sneaking a flustered glance at Itachi before she scurried off and left the two of them in the entryway of the bar.

Shisui couldn't help it when he smirked.

"Looks like you've got an admirer," he said with an elbow nudge to Itachi's side.

Itachi didn't even deny it. He simply placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket, still wearing a tiny little side smile and shrugged.

Shisui cracked a grin.

Mere moments later, the girl returned with Kin Tsuchi in tow. Only where the girl had been generally sheepish and polite, Kin seemed annoyed and brash.

"I've got it, Izumi," Kin pretty much barked.

The girl, Izumi, cleared her throat and started to walk away, but not before she risked one last fleeting glance at Itachi.

And while Shisui would have loved to tease his cousin about the pretty girl, he just didn't have the chance, not with a potential suspect standing directly in front of him.

Kin had long black hair that was tied back with a purple ribbon, big dark eyes, and wore a camouflage scarf over her clothes. And Shisui wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but seeing someone who was so put together after their close friend had just been murdered was certainly not it.

"More cops?" Kin said. She crossed her arms and glared at both of them. "I've talked to at least a dozen of you since Zaku was found."

"We're with the FBI," Itachi said. He flashed his badge and went on, "we just want to ask you a few questions."

"Well make it fast," Kin grumbled. "We've got a lunch party to set up and Izumi doesn't know a ramekin from a bread plate."

Shisui couldn't help but feel bad for Izumi. Kin Tsuchi definitely did not seem like someone easy to work with.

"What was the nature of your relationship with Zaku Abumi?" Shisui asked.

"We were old friends who grew up together," Kin said without any hesitation. "Next question."

"Zaku had quite the record," Itachi began. "Did you know of anyone who might want to hurt him? Any gang affiliations? Maybe some old accomplices?"

"No. Zaku may have been busted for some stupid things but he didn't mess around with gangs or anything of that sort."

"And where were you the night he turned up in Ryuchi Caves? Let's say between the hours of four and seven," Shisui said.

Kin's dark eyes glinted but she didn't once look away from Shisui.

"Here. Ask my manager or any of my coworkers."

Shisui could feel his jaw lock. That was a solid alibi and she damn well knew it.

"Don't need to get so defensive. We're just trying to figure out who killed him," Shisui said.

Kin laughed, seemingly in spite of herself and shook her head.

"He was killed by that serial killer. You know, the same one that _you_ guys said you had in custody," she snapped.

"This may be difficult to hear, but your friend worshipped the ground the killer walked on. Maybe he knew someone—"

Kin didn't let Itachi finish. She was too busy playing the offended, grieving friend role to let him get the rest of that sentence out and Shisui scowled.

He didn't buy it.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here and accusing me of killing my friend and then proceeding to blame him for being interested in true crime," she began, throwing her hands up for extra effect. "How many people out there are interested in murders and cold cases? Probably thousands. You guys coming here to accuse me are just as bad as that journalist."

Shisui's whole body tensed.

"Journalist?" he muttered.

"Yeah, that's right," Kin said with another scoff. She tried to come off annoyed, evident by the way her brows furrowed and her lip curled, but Shisui wasn't an idiot. He could see the tiny beginnings of a smirk play out across her lips.

"What journalist?" he pressed.

He felt like he was taking some sort of bait but he couldn't help it.

"Hana Sarutobi," Kin deadpanned. "As soon as she found out Zaku's identity she came slinking around here and tried to get a statement from me. I don't even know how she found out who I was. I don't think Zaku's identity had even been publicly announced yet. She probably has a friend in the force who told her. Pretty insensitive too. She had a lot of nerve."

Shisui wanted to throw up.

How the hell was he supposed to face his peers ever again after hearing that sort of information? If Fugaku didn't rip him a new one then Shimura would. Hell, it would have been warranted too.

He hated himself for getting so close to her.

He was such an idiot.

"I see," Itachi said quietly.

"Yeah," Kin snapped. "It was a pretty shitty thing to do."

"Agreed," Shisui said under his breath.

"Can I go now? I have wine glasses to polish."

"We just have a few more questions for you," Itachi tried.

Kin rolled her eyes.

"I really don't have time for this right now," she pushed back.

"It's fine," Shisui finally said. He rubbed the side of his jaw and ignored the look of protest his cousin gave him. He didn't want to talk to Kin Tsuchi. Not anymore. He would rather hang out with Chief Shimura than this.

"Here's my card," Shisui said, producing it from his wallet. "Give us a call if something—_anything_ comes to mind that you think might be useful."

Shisui wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but he was pretty sure Kin actually smirked for a moment there. But then it was like he blinked and the smirk was suddenly gone.

"Oh, I will," she said.

She didn't even walk them out of the bar. She just turned away in a flutter of black hair and purple silk, leaving Itachi and Shisui to stand there in uncomfortable silence.

"You shouldn't have let her go so easily." Itachi scolded him right away.

"She wasn't going to tell us anything anyway," Shisui mumbled. "I can't believe Hana came down here and talked to her."

Itachi didn't have a response to that and Shisui gave him a bitter smirk.

"Yeah. So much for hearing her side of the story, huh?"

Itachi sighed and patted Shisui on the back.

"Come on," he said.

Shisui nodded and rubbed his temples.

_God_, he was such an idiot.

* * *

Genma would have gone to Hana's house sooner but he got stuck at work and didn't make it to her apartment complex until a little after six.

He called her several times since he needed her to let him into the building but she didn't answer, and that only made him all the more concerned.

It wasn't until someone was leaving the building and Genma slipped in behind him did he finally get the chance to go inside. And he wasted no time at all running up the stairs and hurrying to her individual apartment.

"Sarutobi, open up!" Genma shouted. He banged his fist on the door of the apartment and listened for any movement inside.

There was none.

He cursed and tried the doorknob, expecting it to be locked but was beyond shocked to see that it wasn't.

That wasn't like Hana.

At all.

"_Shit_," he hissed.

He pushed the door open and braced himself for the worst. At this rate, he almost expected to find his friend's dead body in the living room, but when the door swung open, all he was greeted with was an empty, black apartment.

He already could feel sweat beading on the back of his neck from lack of any working air conditioning or any ventilation.

Genma flicked a light on and looked around.

The apartment was empty but nothing looked out of place?

He leaned against the wall and ran a hand over his jaw, feeling like he was being overdramatic about the whole thing.

She was probably fine. Maybe she just forgot to lock the door and—

His eyes settled on the desk in the living room where her computer sat and that's when he saw all he needed to see.

He walked over to the desk and looked at the puddle of water that covered the surface of it. The puddle obviously came from the knocked over open water bottle, but that wasn't necessarily what made the rock appear in Genma's gut.

It was the fact that her laptop, the computer where she did _all_ of her writing, had water splashed across the keyboard and sat in the puddle, completely untouched.

He pressed the spacebar a few times but the screen didn't respond and that was all he needed to know.

Hana would never just _leave_ her computer to sit in a puddle of _water_. She was a psycho about the damn thing since it was the only thing she did her writing on and he saw all he needed to see.

So he wasted no time in leaving the apartment and driving like a maniac down to the police station.

* * *

"I need to talk to Raido," Genma said the second he walked through the doors of the police station and saw Ebisu sitting at the entrance desk, acting as a sort of gatekeeper.

Ebisu looked up from his paperwork and took one glance at Genma before he returned his attention to whatever it was he was doing moments ago.

"Do you ever get tired of coming here to feed your husband?" Ebisu drawled.

Genma couldn't help it when he recoiled at the words.

He didn't get the chance to talk to Raido the previous night since he still had been at the station and when Raido texted him that morning, Genma carefully ignored it.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to open that can of worms just yet, but still… Hearing someone else reference Raido's feelings made Genma feel weird, and he wasn't proud of himself for that.

"I'm here on business, Ebisu. I need to talk to him right now," he urged.

Ebisu pursed his lips and looked back at Genma from behind the desk and simply adjusted the collar of his uniform.

"No," he said.

"Excuse me?" Genma snapped.

"You heard me. Last time I let you back here there was a whole scene," Ebisu said. "There's an FBI assistant director here now. I can't let anyone back there. So you'll have to file whatever issue you have with me or just wait until your husband gets off the clock."

Genma rolled his eyes and planted his hands on his hips in frustration.

"Fine then," Genma started. "Hana's missing and we need to do something."

Ebisu's brow furrowed and he finally gave Genma his full attention, no longer distracting himself with the paperwork sprawled across the desk.

"Missing?" he repeated.

"You heard me," Genma insisted. "She didn't show up to work, hasn't answered her phone all day, and when I went to her place the door was unlocked and there was water all over her computer and—"

"You and I both know Sarutobi gets flighty when she works on stories. I'm sure she's fine," he said.

Genma shook his head in frustration.

"Ebisu, I'm telling you she's missing."

"You don't know that."

"Why aren't you listening to me? I'm telling you that something is going on!"

"It hasn't even been twenty-four hours. You're just overthinking things."

"I'm not overthinking shit!" Genma snapped, all too aware of the way his blood pressure was beginning to escalate.

"Everyone in the city is in a state of panic. Give it a day or so and then—"

"So you want me to sit back and do nothing while my friend is missing? There's a fucking serial killer on the loose, Ebisu!"

"Genma, if you would just—"

"CLEAN OUT YOUR GODDAMN EARS. HANA IS _MISSING!_"

He didn't mean to shout. He didn't mean to completely lose his composure, but it was too much and he couldn't help it when he finally snapped.

"What the hell is going on?" came a voice from the hallway that Ebisu was carefully blocking from Genma.

Genma shook his head and seethed through his teeth, starting to pace back and forth.

"I've had enough goddamn yelling in my station to last a lifetime!"

Genma huffed and ran his hands across his face and took a breath to steady himself.

When he opened his eyes he saw Ebisu, the Chief of Police, Itachi and Shisui, and an unfamiliar man with brown hair, dark eyes, with an irritated frown on his face.

"Genma, what's going on?" Shisui asked.

Genma huffed, beyond frustrated and scratched the back of his head. He chose to look at Shisui since he seemed the least threatening of the bunch when compared to the chief and a high ranking FBI agent.

He held his hand out to Ebisu and dropped his gaze to the floor. He just didn't think he'd be able to keep his composure and not start shouting again if he repeated himself one more godforsaken time.

Ebisu sighed, "Shiranui believes his friend is missing."

"I don't _believe_ she is, I _know_ she is," Genma snapped right back, knowing damn well that his voice was already too loud.

The man with brown hair scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"File the goddamn missing persons report, Ebisu," the man grunted.

He didn't say anything else. He just walked back down the hallway that he came from with the chief in tow.

Only Itachi and Shisui lingered.

Genma looked at Shisui and threw his hands up.

"I don't know what to do but she's gone," he said. He winced when his voice hitched and rubbed his eyes.

"Who's gone?" Shisui asked, so soft that Genma almost didn't hear it.

Genma pulled his hand away from his face and locked eyes with Shisui.

"Who else? Hana."

* * *

Hana slowly opened her eyes, trying to blink the haziness away. She had a painful crick in her back, an awful taste in her mouth, and a relentless pounding in her temples.

She groaned and went to bring her hands up to massage her temples but stopped when she realized that she _couldn't_ bring them up.

Cold realization washed over her like a wave.

The last thing she remembered came flooding back in an instant. Kin's purple bow, the white cloth over her face, Dosu pushing her door open.

What the fuck was going on?

She looked down and saw that the reason for the crick in her back was because her wrists and ankles were bound to a chair with thick rope. And damnit, she could already feel her wrists beginning to chafe from it.

She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and looked around the room.

She had to have been in a basement of some sort.

The floors were concrete, the walls seemed to be as well, and there were big overhead lights that didn't have any covers on them, dangling from the ceiling with wires exposed and all, bathing the room in a sickly fluorescent white.

She winced and looked away from the lights when her skull began pounding, letting out a pathetic groan.

"Oh. You're awake. Took longer than I thought," came a voice that sounded oddly familiar.

Hana blinked away the tears in her eyes from the pounding in her skull to see a figure approaching her from the staircase against the back wall.

It was difficult to get a clear view of the person with the way the horrible light illuminated them from behind, but from what Hana could see, they had fair hair, a light purple shirt, and a mark just beneath the dip in their collarbone.

She blinked harder until they came into full focus and felt her jaw just about hit the floor.

"_Kimimaro_?" she blurted in disbelief.

And sure enough, standing directly in front of her was the boy with white hair and green eyes that supposedly died back when she was in college.

She stared and stared and _stared_ until he finally met her eyes with his own and cocked his head to the side.

"I thought you died," she gasped.

"Technically, I did," he said. He walked over to an antique wooden desk that was probably large enough to fill an entire office space and opened up one of the drawers, turning his back to her.

"What?" she deadpanned as she stared at his back in disbelief.

There was no way this was actually happening, right? This had to be some sort of fucked up dream.

"I had an active degenerative bone disease which put me in the hospital," he said in a monotone voice, still rifling through the desk and pulling out items that Hana couldn't see. "I entered a vegetative state after an operation and stayed like that for weeks."

"But why… I don't… I don't understand," she went on. Her head felt like it was spinning and a wave of nausea hit her _hard_. "Why would the school tell us you died?"

None of this made any sense.

"So many questions," Kimimaro hummed. He turned back around to face her, but his form blocked her view from whatever it was he pulled out from the desk. "I suppose I expect nothing less of a journalist. I understand you've made quite a name for yourself."

Her voice got caught in the back of her throat as he went on.

"Traveled all over the world and came back with hardly a scratch on you," he said. "You're the perfect person for this."

"Perfect person for what?" she croaked, even though she had a sinking feeling she knew what his answer was going to be.

"For the Zetsu cells of course."

* * *

_**Author's note**_

_**THANK YOU: Random Stranger, Kellie, MiyuKazu, Ki, and Hard-Knock-Life for your reviews on the last chapter(: You know how much I appreciate it.**_

_**Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:**_


	21. Chapter 21

No sooner did the words leave Genma's mouth did Shisui's own mouth start drying up faster than the deserts of Suna.

"You're sure?" Shisui asked.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Genma snapped. "She didn't come to work, didn't answer her phone all day, left her apartment unlocked—which she _never_ does, and her computer is shot right now because it's covered in water. How much more do you need?"

Shisui's heart slammed against his ribcage and all he could hear was his own pulse going crazy.

This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

He and Itachi were supposed to clear Kin, Dosu, and Orochimaru, and then go back to find more incriminating evidence against Kabuto Yakushi. Hana going missing in the middle of a serial killer investigation was not in line with any plan they'd developed.

At all.

He wanted to put his head through a window.

He started pacing and put his hand over his mouth as he did. He needed to think. He needed to formulate a plan.

"When did you last hear from her?" Itachi asked. He somehow managed to keep his voice steady and calm, and Shisui loved him more than words could describe for it.

Genma winced and an unmistakable look of guilt washed over his face.

"Yesterday afternoon," he mumbled. "I kinda… I kinda was avoiding her after a conversation we had."

Shisui could have been bitter and could have said something along the lines of knowing what that was like, but he was too goddamn worried to even think about that.

"This is my fault, isn't it?" Genma said. He squeezed his eyes shut and raked his hands through his hair. "If I'd been a better friend. If I hadn't overreacted—"

"All friends have their differences and you had nothing to do with this," Itachi assured.

"What if—what if the killer has her? You haven't found a single person alive yet," Genma said. His voice began to waver and Shisui watched as he sank into a chair and dropped his head between his shoulders.

"Hana doesn't fit the victimology. She'll be fine," Itachi tried.

"Zaku Abumi didn't fit the victimology either," Shisui said under his breath.

"You gotta do something," Genma said. He looked up from his hands and his eyes flickered between Shisui and Itachi. "Please."

"We will," Itachi assured. He looked over his shoulder and nodded at Ebisu. "Send some people over to the apartment and see if they can find any clues. We're bringing Genma back for questioning."

Ebisu looked equally perturbed. His shoulders were rigid and his mouth was pressed into a tight line. In the midst of everything, it had been easy for Shisui to forget that Hana was Ebisu's friend too.

"Understood," Ebisu said under his breath.

"Come on, Genma," Shisui said. He patted the journalist's shoulder and nodded for him to follow them back.

Nervous energy crackled around Genma and it was all Shisui could do to ignore it. If he focused too long on Genma and his nerves then Shisui would have been reduced to a mess as well and he couldn't afford that.

Not right now. Not when he was one of the only people around who could potentially find Hana before it was too late.

They reached one of the interrogation rooms with a metal table, metal chairs, and a two-way mirror embedded in the gray wall.

"Sorry, I know it isn't really welcoming but it's as private as we can get," Shisui apologized.

He sat down across from Genma and beside Itachi and took in a much needed breath.

Everything was going to be fine.

They were going to find Hana and catch the killer all within the next twenty-four hours.

At least that's what Shisui chose to tell himself.

"Was Hana acting weird at all before she went missing?" Itachi asked.

Genma sighed and shook his head. He ran his hand across his face and stared at a scratch on the table.

"Just acting a little self-destructive," he muttered. "Pretty normal for her when she does something stupid and gets backlash for it."

Shisui's jaw locked and he looked down at his hands.

"Do you know if she was talking to anyone questionable?" Itachi asked.

Genma smirked in spite of himself, but in the harsh shadow from the overhead light, it looked more like a grimace.

"We're journalists. If we're chasing a serious story then everyone we talk to is sketchy," he admitted.

Itachi sighed and Shisui's eyes flashed.

"She _was_ chasing a story though," Shisui said.

Genma's bitter smirk was replaced with a glower and he locked gazes with Shisui.

"Is now really the best time to do this?" Genma said low enough that it almost sounded like a growl.

"That's not why I said it," Shisui said quickly. "She was chasing a story about the serial killer. You just said that when journalists chase a serious story every person they talk to is sketchy. So who was Hana talking to that was giving her information, because I can promise you it wasn't me."

He didn't mean to say that last part. He knew it was childish, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't feel good.

Genma's lips parted in hesitation.

"She _was_ getting her information from someone—from people actually. Three of them. I don't know their names though. I only know that they cornered her in Naka Park after a body turned up. She met up with them one night and I really thought she'd been abducted back then. She's never been a good judge of character when it comes to her sources."

Shisui stared.

Why did this sound familiar?

"They cornered her?" Itachi pressed.

"Yeah," Genma said. "Cornered her and then started texting her from unknown numbers. They were all a bunch of fanatics. I know that much."

"What makes you say they were fanatics?" Itachi asked.

"They just knew things that no one else did. I'd say that just about every piece of information she got came from them since it didn't come from Shisui."

It hit Shisui in an instant. Hana getting texts from unknown numbers, the dead body that turned up at her apartment, the conversation she had with him saying that they were sources for a story that she was working on but couldn't tell him who.

Hana had called them fanatics too.

"_Okay, so I met some people not too long ago. They're the ones who texted me, I'm sure of it… And there's three of them and they're all super interested in the murders. Granted, everyone is, but they're really interested," she started, eyes already getting wide as she rambled on. "I don't want to call them fanatics but that's what they are. They're fanatics."_

"_And how did you meet these people?" Shisui asked as he narrowed his eyes._

"_Uh, well they kinda cornered me in Naka Park and—"_

"_Why would they corner you?" he pressed._

"_That's not important," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "They're obsessed with the murders. Completely batshit insane about them. They know everything about every single murder and practically worship the ground the killer walks on. I'm not surprised that they were the first ones to know about the body with the way they are."_

"Hang on," Shisui said abruptly, turning his head to look at Itachi. "She told me about them the night that body turned up at her apartment complex. She said the same thing, they were three fanatics who worshipped the ground the killer walked on."

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"You don't think…" Itachi muttered.

"Wait!" Genma interrupted. He leaned across the table, eyes doubling in size. "That guy who just turned up. What was his name?"

"Zaku Abumi," Shisui answered right away. Was he really on to something?

"Him," Genma said. "Hana was reading an article on his death after you found his body. She said that she knew him—that he was one of her sources."

"Fucking hell," Shisui cursed under his breath. He leaned his elbows on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "She was talking to goddamn murder suspects and didn't even tell me? How many victims might have survived if she had just opened her goddamn mouth?"

The distinct sound of Genma's frustrated, but sympathetic sigh filled Shisui's ears.

"She's always gotten too close to her stories," Genma said. Shisui risked a look at him and saw that same bitter smirk on his face that almost looked like a grimace. "That's how she ended up getting stabbed in Suna and stuck in an Ame prison."

Shisui squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to try and hold his composure.

Of course he ended up dating a batshit crazy journalist.

Of fucking course.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but this is good, Genma. We've got somewhere to look now. Shisui, you and I should go talk to Kin Tsuchi again. Maybe we can also send Raido and Aoba to go see Dosu Kinuta. They were close with Abumi and if Hana was talking to three separate people, I'm willing to bet that Tsuchi and Kinuta were her other two sources," Itachi said. He already was standing up smoothing out his shirt, ready to go out into the field.

"You're sending Raido out there?" Genma asked, voice almost painfully soft.

Shisui hesitated in his own actions when he saw the clear distress on Genma's face. He had a similar crease in his forehead that Itachi got whenever he worried and Shisui suddenly felt guilty for some reason.

"His experience in this area makes him ideal," Itachi said.

"Right," Genma muttered.

"We'll make sure he's just fine," Shisui said with a tight smile, one that Genma returned.

"Yeah," Genma said. "Thanks."

Shisui kept that uncomfortable smile plastered on his face and he patted Genma on the shoulder one last time.

Time to confront Kin Tsuchi.

* * *

This definitely was not one of Sasuke's best ideas and he could admit that. Clearly, Naruto's idiocy was starting to wear off on him after years of being forced into friendship with the guy, because holy shit what the actual fuck was he doing?

If his father could see him right now he would have had a heart attack and then promptly shipped Sasuke off to a police academy somewhere far, far away.

But Fugaku wasn't around to see him and neither were Shisui and Itachi, so he was free to be a complete and total idiot without anyone judging him for it.

Except for maybe Sakura, but she didn't really count because she was just as dumb as the rest of them.

"Let's just break in and see what we find," Naruto said with a shrug, taking up the entire expanse of Sasuke's couch.

"You're an idiot," Sakura snapped. She walked over to the couch and shoved Naruto's legs off of it so she could sit down. Sasuke stood against the wall of his living room as he watched the two of them, wondering just what the hell he was thinking.

"Hey, I'm not the one who wants to break into my creepy professor's house! That's all Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke's brow twitched.

"I don't want to break in, Moron!"

"No, but you do want to sneak into his personal library and rifle through his belongings to find some taboo research for who knows what reason," Naruto retorted with an exaggerated eye roll.

Sasuke groaned and rubbed his temples.

"I think this is exciting," Sakura said. She smiled brightly at Sasuke and he turned his head to the side to look out the window on the other end of the room.

"How exactly are you going to get into his personal library if you don't plan on breaking in? He's not just gonna invite you to come in and he doesn't invite his students over randomly. He's a creep but not that much of a creep," Naruto said. He stretched his arms high over his head and sprawled out further, which earned an annoyed huff from Sakura.

"Did you not hear the plan, Genius?" Sakura snapped.

"Obviously not," Naruto retorted.

"Well it doesn't involve breaking in," Sasuke said.

He tore his eyes away from the window and focused his attention on his two friends. Naruto puffed his cheeks out as if he was holding his breath and crossed his arms.

"So what the hell's the plan?" he asked.

"Just let me do the talking when we get there," Sakura said. "The story is that I'm there to interview Orochimaru for my senior project, Sasuke is there to introduce us, and you're there to… Actually, why is Naruto coming?"

Because Sasuke didn't want to be stuck with Sakura on his own for an entire night because she probably would think it was a date.

"Moral support," Sasuke said.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear and it was almost blinding, so Sasuke found himself once again looking away at the window.

"Hear that, Sakura?" Naruto snickered.

"Ugh, you'll just wait in the car," Sakura replied, though Sasuke noticed that it wasn't without fondness.

"Hey, Sasuke. You never really said what you were hoping to find with this whole thing," Naruto said.

Sasuke's eyes flickered back over to his blond, hyperactive friend. He wasn't sure if it was worth telling them what his suspicions were, but he wasn't sure if he could go through with their half-baked plan if he didn't tell them at all.

"I just have a suspicion about something and this is the only way I can confirm it," he said.

"What's your suspicion?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke hesitated. The urge to tell them was strong, but he still didn't want to say it just in case his theory was wrong. If his theory was wrong he could destroy a man's career if word got out, but if it was right…

"I'll tell you after this whole shit-show comes to an end," Sasuke said, and he meant it too. Truly, he did.

"Fair enough," Naruto said. He stood up and yawned with a stretch before shooting a giant shit-eating grin at both Sasuke and Sakura.

"I'll drive!"

* * *

When Shisui and Itachi walked into Otogakure they were greeted with the same girl from before, the one with dark brown hair, even darker eyes, and a freckle high on her cheekbone.

"Izumi, right?" Shisui asked with a smile.

Unlike that morning, Otogakure was busy. Shisui could see customers in the bar behind Izumi, drinking cocktails and mingling while smooth jazz music played.

Izumi stood at the host's stand in a black dress with her long brown hair carefully styled into loose curls.

"Yeah," Izumi said. Her eyes flitted between Shisui and Itachi and her cheeks flushed. "You're the agents from this morning who talked to Kin, right?"

"Yes," Itachi said. "We were wondering if she was still here."

Izumi twisted a ring on her middle finger a few times.

"She left after the party today."

"Do you know where she is now?" Shisui pressed. He tried hard to keep his cool but it was immensely difficult with the current situation at hand.

Izumi frowned and shook her head, all while twisting that ring on her finger.

Shisui sighed and looked at Itachi, but Itachi's eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, so quickly that Shisui almost didn't catch it.

"Do you have any idea at all?" Itachi asked easily.

"We don't really talk," Izumi said right away.

"Does she usually go home after work? A bar? A friend's house? _Anywhere_?" Shisui asked. He could feel himself getting desperate and he clenched his hands into fists in his pockets to try and calm down.

"I'm sorry, I don't know," Izumi said. She didn't meet Shisui's eyes and looked down at the table chart instead.

Shisui ran his hand across his face and huffed.

"I'm sorry if we seem a little frustrated," Itachi said. Kin's eyes connected with his and Itachi continued with a quiet, "we're in the middle of a very serious investigation and someone will likely get hurt if we can't talk to Kin."

Shisui watched Izumi's eyes glimmer and she sighed, looking over her shoulder and into the bar. Then she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and stepped out from behind the host's desk and stood within an arm's distance of Itachi.

"Look, Kin is difficult and all but she's not a bad person. She's been really torn up ever since the Zaku thing happened and hasn't been herself. Cut her some slack," Izumi said quietly.

"Where is she?" Shisui pressed. He couldn't keep waiting like this. It was going to kill him and probably Hana if he couldn't get some solid information and get it fast.

"I don't know," Izumi insisted. "I can tell you where she lives if you think that will help, but she could be anywhere."

"That helps, Izumi. Thank you," Itachi said.

Izumi's cheeks flushed and she nodded. Then she walked back to the hostess stand and produced a napkin and jotted something down on it.

"I've only been there when I've dropped her off after work, so I don't know the address off the top of my head, but these are the directions from here. It's the house with the purple door. Can't miss it."

Shisui breathed a sigh of relief and raked his hands through his hair.

Izumi's eyes glinted and she tilted her head to the side.

"The person who might get hurt," she said tentatively, twisting that ring on her finger again. "It's someone you care about, isn't it?"

Shisui couldn't help it when he winced.

He hated what Hana did to him. Absolutely hated it.

He hated that she lied to him. He hated that she tried to use him for information. He hated that she knew Kin, Zaku, and Dosu but didn't tell him. He hated all of it.

But call him a chump, he still cared immensely about what happened to her.

And there was no way in hell he was going to let her get _murdered_.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"Well I hope you find Kin then," Izumi said.

"Me too."

* * *

Kimimaro was as quiet as Hana remembered from college. He said hardly a word as he moved around the basement, producing vials and cultures and other equipment that Hana didn't want to think of.

It was the idle silence that bothered her the most.

Well, that and the way her skull felt like it was about to split in two, but that was beside the point.

Kimimaro turned away from that wooden antique desk with a needle and a tube and Hana's entire body tensed enough that she was pretty certain she broke the skin around her wrists because how badly the rope chafed them.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Her eyes honed in on the small needle in Kimimaro's pale hand and she could feel sweat drip down her temples.

"Starting an IV," he said easily.

She stared as he stood directly at her side and went through the motions of starting an IV in the vein by her wrist and forearm.

He did everything from placing the tourniquet, pushing the needle into her skin at the perfect depth in one shot, and taping it down quickly with well-practiced ease. In fact, he did it so well that she had half the mind to wonder if he ever worked in a clinic.

"Wow, that didn't even hurt," she said breathlessly.

It was stupid and she didn't care because the silence was going to kill her otherwise.

"Believe it or not, hurting you unnecessarily is not on my agenda, Sarutobi," he said.

"Then you'll let me go?" she croaked.

Kimimaro looked at her with those unnerving green eyes and actually cracked a smirk.

"I never considered you a comedian," he said.

He turned his back to her and returned to the wooden desk and she shut her eyes with a trembling sigh.

She'd be fine.

She had survived worse.

"Kimimaro, if you let me go I promise I won't tell anyone. No one has to know you're alive, or what you're doing, or—"

"Begging now?" he quipped. He turned his back to the desk and leaned against it. He then crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her the way a scientist might have looked at a rat.

She sucked a breath to try and compose herself but found her body still shaking.

She needed something to keep him distracted. Something, _anything_ to buy herself a little more time.

Her eyes landed on that mark directly over his sternum.

"That tattoo," she started, praying like hell that the shaking was only in her body and not in her voice. "That's the Cursed Seal of Earth, isn't it? Its sister is the Cursed Seal of Heaven."

"Interesting. I understand why you'd know about the Cursed Seal of Heaven, but I didn't think you'd know about this one," he said with narrowed eyes.

"Well it's an interesting symbol," she said, shifting in the chair she was tied to.

Every time she strained her wrists against the ropes her IV stung.

"I agree," he said.

That god awful silence descended over them again and Hana ground her teeth together so she didn't start screaming or crying.

_God_, what she had gotten herself into?

"Good to see you cooperating, Sarutobi. I expected you to be a screamer. Consider me pleasantly surprised."

Hana tore her eyes away from Kimimaro faster than the speed of light at the sound of a new voice.

Her veins felt like they were coated in ice as she looked over to that staircase against the back concrete wall. A tall figure descended the stairs, one with long hair and sharp, almost snakelike eyes.

She closed her eyes in realization and exhaled, effectively dispelling the trembling in her body.

"For Christ's sake, I am such an idiot," she said more to herself than to her current company. "I _knew_ it was you. I knew it was you from the moment they arrested Kabuto Yakushi."

Orochimaru wore an amused smirk. He walked closer to her until he was within an arm's reach and Hana pushed herself as far back into the chair as she could.

"You have good instincts. Too bad you didn't act on them," he said.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek.

She _did_ act on them. She tried to find anything that would lead her to Orochimaru, but even with everything, she found it wasn't enough for the cops to arrest him.

"I did," she said through gritted teeth. "But the cops couldn't arrest you on my instinct. They needed evidence—all of which conveniently pointed to Kabuto Yakushi. Did you plan that? For him to be your fall guy?"

"Actually, no. Your little friends were supposed to fill that role. They just got a little vindictive and threw him under the bus instead," Orochimaru explained. He didn't seem bothered by it. If anything, he talked about it the same way her coworkers talked about the weather. Bored and indifferent.

"You mean Kin, Zaku, and Dosu?" she asked.

Orochimaru simply nodded as his eyes flitted around her. He looked at her face, her restraints, her IV, and it made the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand straight up.

"Makes sense," she said with a sigh. "They knew things no one else did."

"They thought they were making a statement by dropping that body off at your apartment and pinning the note to Zaku. They thought it would have been enough to lead the investigation to Orochimaru, but those idiots were wrong. All they did was incriminate themselves," Kimimaro tacked on.

A brief pang of pity shot through her chest for the three, but then she recalled the memory of Kin and Dosu breaking into her apartment and that pity vanished.

"I'm sure Sasuke's family members are out right now arresting Kin and Dosu," Orochimaru said.

"Aren't you worried they're going to rat you out?" she asked quietly as her gaze fell to the floor.

"Those cowards would never," Kimimaro said right away.

Hana let her eyelids flutter shut again.

She should never have doubted her instincts.

"Why me?" she asked. She reached deep for whatever courage she once had and tried to armor herself with it. It was all she could do at this point—pretend to be brave as she looked a serial killer in the eye. "I'm your boss's daughter. Killing me is a terrible idea."

"Well, if all goes according to plan you won't die. You'll live to see another day just like Kimimaro," Orochimaru said. He reached out and tapped her IV, causing Hana to flinch so hard that she broke more of the skin of her wrists. "I chose you because you're the perfect specimen. You traveled across Suna, were experimented on in Ame—"

She groaned and shook her head.

"I already told you that I wasn't experimented on in Ame," she argued.

It was either from the frustration or the fear, but the backs of her eyes stung so she stared up at the harsh fluorescent light.

"My research suggests that someone exposed to foreign diseases who walked away unscathed would make a perfect host," Orochimaru said, outright ignoring her words.

He walked over to the antique wooden desk that Kimimaro had been leaning against and opened one of the side drawers.

Hana thought the desk looked out of place. It was too pretty, too grand to be in a basement holding who knows what kind of torture devices.

"For your Zetsu cells?" she mumbled.

"That's right," Orochimaru said. "It worked with Kimimaro so I'm sure it'll work with you too. Once the cells have taken to your body I'll be able to give your father the results he's been demanding. He'll be ecstatic, I'll keep my funding, and that meddlesome _cop_ will leave me alone."

"You're insane," Hana breathed out in disbelief. "You are absolutely insane. No wonder Tsunade and Jiraiya cut you off. They did because you're nothing but a—"

_Crack!_

She was cut off with a right hook to the nose that cracked her head back and made an overwhelming wave of nausea come over her as her head pounded and pounded and _pounded _in response.

Her eyes watered from the blow and she slowly straightened her neck until she could lean over the side of her chair and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Brief flashes of a cold, damp prison cell flashed on the backs of her eyes, disappearing in an instant when Kimimaro came into focus.

"I thought…" she spat out another mouthful of blood. She could feel more blood dripping from her nose like a faucet while the adrenaline kept the pain at bay. "…that hurting me wasn't on your agenda."

"That was before you opened your mouth," Kimimaro deadpanned. "How dare you speak to him like that? Orochimaru is nothing short of a _genius!_"

The pain in her head got worse and worse. She couldn't see straight and her stomach churned in response to the relentless pain thundering against her temples and the back of her skull. She couldn't keep it together. The pain was too much and her body was starting to shut down.

Hana blinked back stars just long enough to focus on Kimimaro to see where he stood directly at her side.

Then she leaned over the side of her chair and puked just before she blacked out.

* * *

Shisui and Itachi followed Izumi's directions on the napkin and parked outside of the apartment with the purple door and _waited_.

No one appeared to be home and since the rest of the team was already out in the field looking for the suspects, the only thing they could do was sit by the house and wait.

It was awful in every sense of the word.

"We're going to find her," Itachi said from the passenger's side of the car.

"Yeah, but are we going to find her alive or dead?" Shisui said as his breath hitched.

"You can't think like that, Shisui. You know that," Itachi scolded.

Shisui stared at the purple door from the safety of their car. The street Kin lived on was surprisingly quiet for how close it was to downtown. One half of the street was all apartment complexes and the other side had an abandoned church on it. It was illuminated by yellow street lights and the occasional passing car.

It was a nice area.

Perfect place for a murder suspect to hide.

It was when his eyes started to glaze over that he saw a figure come from behind the building and go up to the purple door.

Shisui squinted his eyes and sat up straight.

The person had long black hair and a purple ribbon holding it back and that was enough for him.

He didn't even wait for Itachi. He just jumped out of the car and pretty much ran across the street.

"FBI," Shisui shouted so she didn't think he was someone trying to mug her with the way he was pretty much charging her.

Kin looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at Shisui. "You stalking me or something?"

"Oh, you think _I'm_ the stalker here?" Shisui retorted.

"Shisui—" Itachi tried.

"So what the hell do you call what you and your friends were doing to Hana then? Cornering her in Naka Park, dropping dead bodies off at her apartment complex, and texting her from unknown numbers? Because that sure as hell sounds like stalking to me."

He was out of line and he knew it, but all he could see was red and he just didn't care.

Kin scoffed, "either arrest me or get the hell out of my face."

"I'd love nothing more than to throw your ass in prison and watch you rot but you know where Hana is, don't you?"

"_Shisui_," Itachi warned.

"You can't prove anything. You can't even find the right killer despite all the blatantly obvious evidence. So lay off," Kin retorted. She turned her back to Shisui and walked up to her front door.

Shisui could feel his pulse quicken.

This was his only chance. He couldn't let his only lead just walk away.

"I guess you don't know what your friend said to us then," Shisui said suddenly.

He could see Itachi watching him through his peripheral vision, but he didn't stop him so Shisui went on.

"What?" Kin asked.

"Yeah. Your friend Dosu Kinuta. He told us everything," Shisui said. He shrugged his shoulders and tried to act smug.

"You're lying," Kin said, though her brows still furrowed.

"Wish I was, but he sang like a bird. We know you're working with the actual killer. You may not have killed anybody yourself but you certainly helped. You delivered the victims to the killer and dumped the bodies. I wonder how you'll get charged in court. It doesn't matter if you have a pretty face. No jury will have a shred of sympathy for you when the prosecutor presents all the evidence and Kinuta's testimony—and don't think he won't testify because he will. Criminals like you will do anything to get a lighter sentence."

Kin's face whitened and she clenched her hands into fists at her side.

"Well?" Shisui snapped when he grew tired of waiting. "You gonna tell me where the hell Hana Sarutobi is or do I need to call the DA right now?"

"_Shisui_," Itachi hissed.

Kin gritted her teeth and her fists began to shake.

"If you stupid cops had just looked at all the goddamn evidence you would have figured it out and Zaku would still be here!" she shouted.

Shisui's eyes widened but he kept his mouth shut.

"But you were all too focused on Yakushi because it was easier! We tried to make it as obvious as possible! The body at Sarutobi's apartment, the note on Zaku? If you had just looked a little _harder_ you would have been able to figure it out!" Kin scoffed and shook her head, looking up at the stars. "Every victim _literally_ has the Cursed Seal of Heaven on them! You should have known from the very first body when the forensic pathologist opened them up and saw the cells!"

Shisui's stomach leaped into the back of his throat.

"Orochimaru," he whispered.

Kin shook her head and wiped her eyes, though Shisui didn't see any tears.

"Yeah," she muttered with her lip starting to curl. "Hopefully your little girlfriend is as good of a specimen as he thinks she is. Otherwise, she's already dead."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Thank you x a million to: mide1718, Random Stranger, nadia4245, MiyuKazu, Kellie, Guest, and jenxtt for the reviews!(:**_

_**Things are coming to a close! The next chapter will be up next Sunday as usual and then chapters 23 & 24 will posted within 1-2 days of each other.**_

_**Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you(:**_


	22. Chapter 22

_***Fights/physical confrontations are so difficult to write ugh.***_

* * *

Debilitating pain aside, the worst thing that Hana had to deal with when she woke up was the taste in her mouth.

All she could taste was rust, bile, and a tongue that felt like sandpaper.

She groaned and blinked until the basement came into focus and it was all she could do to not throw up again.

"I had Kimimaro administer some morphine, so you shouldn't pass out from pain again," Orochimaru said.

She sat up as straight as she physically could and her joints protested. The ache in her back, wrists, ankles, and neck was unbearable. She just wanted to stand up at the very least and stretch her arms high over her head.

"How is he alive?" Hana croaked. She looked up at the fluorescent light and tried to imagine that it was the sun.

"He's alive because I took a chance," Orochimaru said easily. He walked closer to Hana and inspected the IV that was now attached to a fluid bag suspended on a metal pole directly beside her.

"I don't understand," she mumbled, still staring up at the light even though it was making her see spots.

"When Kimimaro's illness caused him to have that episode, he had been working as my research assistant. He went to the hospital and the surgeons did all they could but he was going to die. I thought it was a waste for such a talented young man to die so early. So I took a chance and infused his body with the Zetsu cells and he lived."

"I know there's more to the story than that," Hana mumbled. She finally looked away from the light and blinked as black splotches filled her vision.

"There is, but it's none of your concern. The point was that the cells worked on a human for once and I needed him for further research," Orochimaru said.

He had his back to her again, working at that antique wooden desk.

And Hana was certain she could hear the sound of metal scraping against metal.

"Then why were we told he died?" Hana asked.

"With enough money and leverage you can make anyone disappear," Orochimaru said.

She could _hear_ the smile in his voice.

"Is that what you're going to do with me then? Use your money and leverage to make me disappear if the cells work?" she asked. Her voice was soft and quiet as she spoke. The pain and exhaustion made it too difficult to sound as angry as she might have felt.

"It's all in the name of research, Sarutobi," Orochimaru remarked.

He walked back over her IV with a syringe filled with a violet liquid and Hana stared at it in silence, body beginning to lock up on itself.

"Are those the cells?" she asked, voice nothing more than a faint whisper.

"No," he said. "This is a venom one of my research assistants developed after experimenting with some of his arachnids. Over time we've found that the Zetsu cells react best in response to the type of damage that this particular venom inflicts."

Her eyes widened and she stuttered out a quick, "why not just give me a paper cut or try to apply the Zetsu cells to my nose? I'm pretty sure it's broken anyway and if they can repair damage to the body—"

Orochimaru ignored her and promptly injected the violet liquid into her IV.

It _burned_. It felt like she'd been dipped in molten lava and it only got worse with each pulse as her heart circulated the now infected blood throughout her body.

She gritted her teeth and tried to muffle a scream, thrashing her wrists and ankles around until they were nothing more than a bloody mess.

"The cells react quickest to this particular venom," Orochimaru said. He stood off the side and watched as she squirmed and cried out in pain, one eyebrow arched above the other. "If we administer the cells and don't see an immediate reaction, then the next course of action is quite simple. We drain you of your blood and start back at square one. This is the most time-efficient method we've developed."

Her skin felt like it was on fire and sweat dripped down her forehead, neck, chest, and legs. It was too much. She was being burned alive from the inside out.

At this point, she _wanted_ the Zetsu cells just to make it _stop_.

"When—" she stopped and locked her jaw in pain and looked up at the ceiling when her arm with the IV started to twitch.

Orochimaru sighed and shook his head.

"I do apologize for how unpleasant this part is," he said with a shrug. "But interestingly enough, you're doing better than the others have."

She had no idea what the fuck that even meant because she was fairly certain that she was _dying_.

"I'll be back to administer the Zetsu cells in twenty minutes—assuming you're still alive that is," he said. He looked at her IV again and touched his chin. "I wonder if you were ever bitten by one of those arachnids in Suna. Your reaction is very mild which makes me think that you were."

She couldn't speak to tell him to go to hell because there was nothing _mild_ about this "reaction." She was dripping sweat, her body felt like it was engulfed in flames, and the muscles in her arm were twitching every couple of seconds.

"Mild" was not the word she'd use to describe this particular form of torture.

Orochimaru's eyes lingered on her for a moment longer and then he disappeared from her side.

The only thing she could hear was the sound of her heart frantically beating and the echo of his footsteps on the stairs.

* * *

Naruto was impossible and insisted on coming with Sasuke and Sakura to the front door. Sasuke told him at least a dozen times to just stay in the car but the pain in the ass simply refused.

So instead, there they were, all three of them standing on the porch of Orochimaru's house.

He lived in the goddamn middle of nowhere. Hell, if Sasuke hadn't made the drive himself he never would have believed they were still within the city limits.

They had to take not one, but two dirt roads to get out to the location.

Two. Dirt roads. In _Konoha_ of all places.

What the fuck, right?

They parked in the circular driveway since there definitely was more than enough space as only one car was there, and as soon as they turned the car off Naruto jumped out and insisted on coming.

It was goddamn annoying.

Sasuke was just too blinded by how close he was to everything to really fight with Naruto about something so stupid. They'd think of some excuse if questioned about why Naruto was there.

"Let me and Sakura do the talking, got it?" Sasuke asked for probably the tenth time.

Naruto waved his hand with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah."

Sasuke glared but didn't get the chance to reprimand his friend anymore because the door finally opened.

Only, instead of Orochimaru like Sasuke expected, someone else answered the door.

The guy standing in the threshold of the door had white-grey hair, incredibly green eyes, and wore a lilac shirt that was buttoned up just below his collarbone, and just below a tattoo above his sternum that Sasuke recognized in an instant.

The tattoo was three curved lines and Sasuke knew it was the Cursed Seal of Earth—sister to the Cursed Seal of Heaven, which coincidentally was Orochimaru's favorite symbol.

Sasuke blinked at it several times before Sakura elbowed him in the ribs and brought him back to reality.

The guy didn't say anything. He only stared Sasuke down and waited for him to say something.

"Uh hey," Sasuke started. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Is Orochimaru around at all? I was hoping I could talk to him."

The guy cocked his head to the side and said a firm, "he's unavailable at the moment."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

So did that mean he was home?

"Tell him Sasuke is here. I'm one of his research assistants and I was hop—"

"I know who you are, but that doesn't change the fact he's unavailable. He'll call you when he's got some free time."

Sasuke didn't have a response to that and the guy already started to close the door on them.

But Naruto, pain in the ass Naruto, caught the door and raised his chin at the guy.

"Sure he can't spare a minute?"

The man gave Naruto a death glare and said a low, "no."

He promptly slammed the door in their faces after that and Sasuke's shoulders deflated a little bit.

So much for his grand plan.

"Did that guy look familiar to either of you?" Sakura asked.

"No? Was he supposed to?" Naruto grumbled. He crossed his arms and huffed and puffed, and honestly? Sasuke felt the sentiment.

Sakura drummed her fingers against her chin.

"There was a student at the school who passed away a few years ago. That guy looks weirdly like him. I don't know. Maybe it's all in my head," Sakura said with a shrug.

Sasuke hesitated. Sakura was usually spot on with remembering names and faces, so if that guy looked familiar there had to have been a good reason for it.

"Let's just sneak in," Naruto announced with a grin plastered on his face. He stepped down from the porch and turned around, still grinning from ear to ear. "There's gotta be a back window or something we can sneak into!"

"Are you insane, Moron!" Sakura shouted. She punched Naruto in the arm and he winced in pain, but still wore that grin.

"What? Sasuke needs to get into the guy's library, right? There's gotta be an easy way to get in! Most places in the middle of nowhere like this are a piece of cake to sneak into!"

Sasuke's eye twitched. He didn't need to be reminded of all the dumb shit he got in trouble for back in high school because Naruto Uzumaki had a dumbass idea to break into an abandoned mansion upstate or something else of the sort.

Fugaku had grounded Sasuke for a month when that happened.

"This is different! Somebody actually lives here!" Sakura shouted.

"Oh chill out! We'll just walk around the property, scope it out, and if it's too obvious we'll leave!" Naruto said.

He directed that grin to Sasuke next and he just sighed.

How was he supposed to say no to that dumbass grin?

"Fine. We'll just walk around and see what we find, but if anything seems sketchy we're out of here. Okay?" Sasuke said.

"Hate to break it to you, Sasuke, but we're already far beyond sketchy at this point."

Sasuke didn't argue with him because Sakura took care of that.

Naruto then proceeded to lead them around the property.

For as much land as Orochimaru owned, everything was pretty sparse. Hell, even the house was pretty average.

He didn't have any sheds or garages on the land despite all the space. He didn't have a patio, gazebo, or any outdoor fixtures. It was all so bare.

The only thing was the house.

They had just reached the back of the house and stumbled across the cellar door, which in itself, wasn't all that strange. Loads of houses had creepy cellar doors like that. Sasuke's own childhood house was a perfect example of that.

But what most houses did not have were iron chains and padlocks on their cellar doors.

"What the hell?" Sasuke whispered.

"Maybe he just prioritizes security?" Naruto asked, even though the anxiousness in his voice said that he believed otherwise.

"Okay, I know the guy is a genius and everything, but this is weird, right?" Sakura asked. "Like we're all in agreement? This is weird?"

Sasuke's stomach churned. This was a bad idea.

What the hell had he been thinking?

"Guys, I should probably tell you why I wanted to come here," Sasuke said. He turned around and looked at both of his friends. Each of them had their eyes focused on him and for once, they silently waited for him to continue.

"I think Orochimaru might be the serial killer."

* * *

So _maybe_ leaving Kin Tsuchi alone at her apartment to evade the cops instead of bringing her to the station was _not_ a great idea, but Shisui didn't particularly care because they were running out of time. They had to get to Orochimaru's and do it fast.

Fugaku raked him over the coals for a good couple of minutes about it but ended up going ahead and giving them clearance to go to the mad scientist's house.

Which turned out to be easier said than done because Danzo had a whole goddamn fit about it when they called the station. He kept arguing with them and saying that they needed to look elsewhere until out of nowhere he relented and got them the address.

Shisui kinda assumed that all it took was one nasty conversation with Fugaku to change his mind.

They were the first ones to arrive on the scene.

Orochimaru lived in a pretty average-sized house just outside of the city. It was only two levels and looked like it had a modest amount of square footage.

But what was extraordinary about it was the amount of land he had.

The property itself was huge.

Neither one of them had seen another house on their way to the location. They just drove down the quiet road until they turned onto the property that was a ridiculous plot of land.

There didn't seem to be any fixtures on the land either aside from the house and that was the most troubling part.

Why did the man want to be so completely alone? What was he hiding?

(Dead bodies apparently)

The driveway itself was long and not very well-lit, and it took them at least a full minute before they reached the end that led to a circular driveway directly beside the two-story house.

In the driveway, there was a well-maintained, black sedan and a burnt-orange hatchback with a mirror almost hanging off the side of the passenger's door.

And despite how dark it was, Shisui still recognized that car.

"What the hell is Naruto's car doing here?" Shisui blurted.

He wasted no time in climbing out of his own car and Itachi looked at Naruto's car with his brow furrowed.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Itachi said.

Shisui rested his hand on the holster of his gun and walked up to the front door of the house.

The entire property was poorly lit. There was only a single light at the very start of the driveway, right where you turned off the street, and the singular porch light to illuminate the front door.

Shisui honestly felt like he was in a horror movie with how dark it was. It was only a matter of time before a poltergeist swung the door open and dragged him inside to certain death.

He pounded on the door with the side of his fist and shouted, "FBI! Open up!"

No response.

Shisui repeated the actions and scowled when once again, he was greeted with no response.

He took a few steps back, ready to break the damn door down when he heard footsteps and a loud _crunch_ that made both him and Itachi spin around and point their guns.

"Don't shoot!" a voice squealed. "It's just us!"

Shisui squinted his eyes in the darkness and he thanked whatever higher power there was that Naruto Uzumaki always wore a fluorescent orange hoodie that stood out, even when they were in the middle of a horribly dark murder property.

"What the hell are you _doing_ here?" Shisui snapped. He holstered his gun and walked forward until he was in arm's distance of Naruto and swiftly smacked him upside the head.

"_Ow!_ Hey!" Naruto whined.

"It's kind of a long story," came another voice that belonged to none other than Sakura Haruno.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sasuke asked next.

"Trying to solve a murder case, you little punk!" Shisui snapped.

"Sasuke, you'd better have a good explanation for this," Itachi said. His voice was ice cold and Shisui felt a twinge of sympathy for Sasuke if only for the fact that there wasn't much worse in the world than being the source of Itachi's disappointment.

"Well that's great because that's why we're here!" Naruto announced.

Shisui blinked at Sasuke's hyperactive friend, completely and utterly dumbfounded.

"What?" he deadpanned.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke hissed. "That's not it exactly. I met with one of Orochimaru's old research assistants and Anko told me that—"

"_Anko_? You met with Anko Mitarashi?" Shisui repeated. He could feel his eyes double in size and his lips part. The cold realization that his little cousin had a suspicion about Orochimaru made him feel like such an idiot! Even Sasuke knew that something was up with this guy! How come the only people who didn't suspect him were the ones paid to do just that?

"You know Anko?" Sasuke asked as he cocked his head to the side.

Shisui groaned and rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"We don't have time for this!" Shisui snapped. "Go wait in the car—all of you! We'll talk about this later."

"Shisui, you're scary when you're like this," Naruto said with a snicker.

Shisui whacked him upside the head a second time and Naruto seethed through his teeth and hissed something that sounded suspiciously like 'asshole_._'

"He's right," Itachi scolded. "The rest of the team will be here shortly and Father will be among them, Sasuke."

Even in the darkness, Shisui could see his cousin's shoulders stiffen at the mention of Fugaku.

"Why? Is Orochimaru really the killer?" Sakura asked under her breath.

Shisui sighed and tried to temper himself.

"Go wait in the car," he said firmly.

The three of them started back towards Naruto's car, but just before they were out of earshot, Sasuke paused and looked at both Shisui and Itachi.

"Just so you know, Orochimaru's not alone," Sasuke said. "There's someone else in the house. I think he's your age or maybe a little younger. Looks pretty strong too."

Now that actually was helpful.

Shisui nodded and said a breathless, "thanks for the heads up."

As soon as Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were out of the way, Shisui walked right up to the front door, knocked one last time, and then kicked the door open.

* * *

"How are you feeling, Sarutobi?" Orochimaru asked when he came back downstairs.

Hana felt feverish to say the very least. The burning pain didn't subside, but the energy to grit her teeth and cry out did. Her arm still violently twitched from where the IV filled her body with venom, but at least the twitching was confined to that arm and that arm only.

She didn't even have the strength to answer him. She just slumped in that godforsaken chair and looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

"You look much better than the others did at this point," he said.

All she could utter was a weak, "mm."

"I knew you would be perfect for this," Orochimaru said. He almost sounded excited, but Hana was too delirious to know for sure. "Your time in Suna is likely what saved your life. One of those creatures certainly must have bitten you before if this is your reaction."

Hana's body burned and her face was so, _so_ warm. She didn't even want to think about what her temperature was. It had to at least be 102 degrees at this point, maybe higher?

"I've got a great feeling about this," Orochimaru hummed.

Hana's head lolled to the side and she blinked slowly, the room blurring in and out of focus.

"Think, Sarutobi," Orochimaru began. "You get to be part of something great. You get to be one of the people who helped advance the field of medicine!"

She was vaguely aware of Orochimaru approaching her from the side again. She tried to raise her eyes to look at him directly, but she would have had to lift her head and she didn't have the strength for that. So she simply looked at where his hands held another syringe, this one filled with a clear liquid.

"These are the Zetsu cells," he began. "They react to this venom very quickly, so in ten minutes we'll know if my hypothesis is correct or not, but I have a very good feeling about this."

He injected the liquid into her IV and Hana watched without fighting or saying a word.

Unlike the venom, when the cells entered her body they felt cool, almost like they were quelling the fire inside from the venom.

She sighed in relief and rested her head against the back of her chair.

At least she wouldn't die on fire now, so that was something, right?

"Hm, interesting reaction," Orochimaru hummed.

Suddenly, there was a loud _bang_ from upstairs, and if Hana wasn't on the verge of death she would have jumped.

But she didn't. She just sat there and blankly stared ahead.

"Kimimaro!" Orochimaru snapped.

Hana licked her chapped lips and lazily shot Orochimaru a look.

There was no response from Kimimaro but Hana definitely heard the sounds of heavy footsteps upstairs.

And from the sounds of it, it wasn't just Kimimaro?

"Do you…" she croaked, laboring for breath. "…have other research assistants?"

Orochimaru didn't say anything, but his lips pursed and he straightened up impossibly tall.

"Be quiet. Otherwise, I'll cut your tongue out," Orochimaru hissed.

Hana didn't even have the strength to be scared of the threat. If anything, she almost started giggling at the absurdity of it all.

Orochimaru noticed too because he rolled his eyes in disgust and turned his back to quickly march over to the desk, produce a roll of duct tape, and rip off a piece of it to cover her mouth.

"Just a safety precaution," he said with a smirk.

Hana sighed through her nose and watched Orochimaru walk over to one of the sidewalls and flip something at the breaker.

Except for the one uncovered light that hung down from the ceiling with exposed wires, every light went off and Hana raised her eyebrows.

Then Orochimaru disappeared from her sight.

She didn't know where he went because he certainly didn't go up the stairs, but she couldn't see him anywhere she looked. Even when she turned her head around as far as she could, he was nowhere to be seen.

She slumped in the chair again and listened for the footsteps upstairs.

As the cells pumped through her body she felt colder, even though she was fairly certain her fever was only getting worse.

She didn't know what to make of that.

This was it. She was going to die.

No more groundbreaking stories. No more chances to make something of herself. No chance to tell her brother and father how much she loved them. No chance to apologize to Raido for letting his secret out.

No chance to beg Shisui for forgiveness and tell him why she did the things she did.

She only hoped that her mother would be waiting for her on the other side and that maybe Kagami would be too.

Yeah. Maybe they'd all be there on the other side.

* * *

The lights went out only a minute or so after Shisui kicked the door down.

He gritted his teeth and looked at Itachi.

"Do you have your flashlight?" Itachi asked after he produced his.

"No," Shisui admitted. "It's in the car."

The smart thing would have been to go back to the car and get it, but he was in too deep to turn back now. Every second counted, and if Hana was somewhere in this shithole then he'd gladly fumble around in the darkness if it meant finding her.

"We should go back and—"

"We don't have time!" Shisui snapped.

He stopped when he heard footsteps above them.

Shisui then looked at Itachi and said, "Sasuke said there's someone else here."

Itachi glared up at the ceiling when more footsteps could be heard.

"Let's go," Itachi said.

"Wait," Shisui said. "It's quicker to split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

Itachi definitely did not like that. He glared and that crease appeared in his forehead that told Shisui all he needed to know.

"Last time we did that you almost drowned," Itachi warned.

"Well, I don't see any bodies of water around here! Besides, the rest of the team is already on the way. We've got to move quickly or else—"

Shisui swore he heard the sound of something _beneath_ them and he stopped.

"The breaker is probably in the basement. You take the upstairs, I'll take the downstairs and get the lights back on."

Itachi didn't argue with him but he made his disdain for the idea pretty obvious. He glared, shook his head, and even went so far as to 'tsk' him.

Honestly, it was a miracle that Itachi was Shisui's partner at all. He was fairly certain that if it were anyone else, they would have quit on him by now.

"Don't be stupid," Itachi warned in a low voice. "We still have to clear this floor."

He was right. Shisui gave him that much.

They were careful as they treaded around the first floor of the house. Guided by Itachi's flashlight and keeping their guns drawn, they walked around the first floor, searching for someone to make themselves known, all to no avail.

They passed by a library and directly across from the library was a staircase that led upstairs.

"You can still come with," Itachi tried.

"I'll be fine," Shisui promised.

Itachi sighed and reluctantly went upstairs while Shisui backtracked to the hall that led to the kitchen. He was pretty sure he saw a door that either led to a basement or a closet that way.

The hair stood up on his arms as he walked around in the darkness.

His eyes adjusted (as much as they could anyway) and he easily found his way back to the hallway.

He didn't like how quiet it was when they'd both heard footsteps only moments ago. And even though it might not have made sense, he didn't like how easy it had been for him and Itachi to walk around.

Shisui breathed quietly and found the door he'd been looking for. He opened it, expecting a closet but was greeted with a set of stairs and bit down on the inside of his cheek.

There was light coming from down there, albeit it was dim.

He bit down harder on his cheek.

It was too easy and clearly a trap, but what the hell was he supposed to do?

So Shisui took a deep breath to steel himself and then walked down the stairs.

* * *

"I hate this waiting around," Naruto complained from the driver's seat of the car.

Sasuke shared his sentiment and nodded in agreement.

"I know this is gonna sound awful, but if Orochimaru really is the killer then this will make for one hell of a story," Sakura said.

Sasuke could hear her smiling and even he couldn't find it in him to be annoyed with her. She'd been wanting a big story for years and it was just sheer, dumb luck that she stumbled into this one.

Hana even said that was how she found most of her stories.

Why should Sakura be any different?

"We should go in and help them," Naruto said.

"Itachi and Shisui are trained, federal agents. We'd just be in the way," Sasuke said. He rested his cheek against his fist and looked outside the car window at the gloomy house.

Itachi and Shisui must have been in the house for only a couple of minutes when Sasuke watched the lights abruptly go out.

"Uh. That doesn't look very good," Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke's stomach twisted.

He didn't know what the hell that guy from before was planning, but the fact that the lights conveniently shut off the moment two FBI agents walked inside definitely was not a good sign.

Sasuke was silent as he watched and waited for some indication that his family members were all right, but it never came.

And he wasn't sure how much time had passed (at least a few minutes), but suddenly there was a gunshot and that was enough for Sasuke. He couldn't just sit back and _wait_ while Itachi and Shisui put themselves in danger. Their backup was nowhere to be found and they obviously needed help and needed it _right now_.

Without another thought, he threw the car door open and ran for the house.

* * *

Shisui winced as the stairs creaked beneath his feet. He held his breath as he descended further into the basement, illuminated by dim light and tightened his grip on his gun.

The hair on his arms and back of his neck stood straight up and he had a continuous chill running up and down his spine.

He'd seen some gruesome shit before, but nothing that ever hit so close to home before.

Shisui kept his back to the wall to cover himself and after what felt like an eternity he finally reached the concrete floor of the basement.

The basement was unfinished and only illuminated by an ugly fluorescent light fixture that dropped down from the ceiling with exposed wires.

But as soon as his eyes adjusted to the light he saw it.

Further in the back of the room, tied down to a chair with duct tape over her mouth was Hana.

Shisui sucked in a breath of relief and against his better judgment and years of training, made a beeline right to her.

He knew he should have cleared the area first but he wasn't thinking straight.

All he could think was that Hana was there and _alive _and he couldn't give a shit about the rest.

"Hana," he said.

He reached her in a few long strides and holstered his gun to crouch down directly in front of the chair she was tied to.

He quickly assessed her and his stomach churned.

Her wrists and ankles were bound with rope and the skin was bloody and raw from all the chafing, she had a strip of duct tape over her mouth, and an IV pumping _something_ into her arm.

He started with the IV and tried to be as gentle as possible when he pulled the damn thing out.

The vein that the IV had been connected to and all other blood vessels and veins around it looked a shade of sickly dark gray through her skin and he felt sick to his stomach.

Her skin had been hot to the touch. Shisui wasn't sure he had ever seen someone with such a high fever before but he didn't like it and his heart thudded painfully in his chest.

"You're okay," he assured, though he wasn't sure if he was trying to assure himself or the Sarutobi girl in front of him.

Next, he carefully pulled the duct tape off and that seemed to get her attention because when he removed the IV she hardly looked at him.

"I thought…" she labored for breath and Shisui could hear the sound of her chest rattling as she did. "…you were dead."

Shisui looked up at her in confusion and reached for his pocket knife to cut the ropes off of her wrists and ankles.

"Of course I'm not dead. Are you okay? I'm gonna get you to a hospital, all right?"

He looked closely at her face and noticed the crookedness of the bridge of her nose, the dried blood that once dripped from it, and the bruising that was beginning under her eyes.

Someone had punched her right in the face.

Shisui's hands clenched into fists.

"No, you're supposed to be dead," she insisted. Her voice was so hoarse and Shisui's pulse was going crazy. "I watched Tobirama Senju cry after your funeral."

She was delirious, Shisui knew that much. He just didn't realize _how_ delirious she was until it dawned on him that she thought he was Kagami.

"Hana, it's me. Shisui. Kagami's son," he tried. He cupped her burning hot face in his hands and tried to get those hazel eyes to realize who he was.

She lazily blinked and slumped deeper into the chair.

She hadn't even tried to get up and run away after he'd cut away the ropes.

What the fuck did that creep do to her?

"Oh," she whispered.

"Come on. Itachi is upstairs and help is on the way. We're getting you out of here," he said. He tried to get her to stand but she just stayed put and watched him with those feverish eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

He wasn't sure what the hell it was that pushed her over the edge, but her face scrunched up and suddenly tears were falling from her hazel eyes and sliding down her cheeks.

"I'm _so_ sorry," she cried. "This is all my fault."

His chest tightened and he locked his jaw, cupping her face in his hands again.

"It's okay. I promise, I'm not mad," he insisted.

That didn't stop her tears though. She only continued crying and whispering out incoherent apologies.

His heart squeezed and just when he was ready to pick her up and carry her out of there, there was the sound of a gunshot that had him instinctively ducking down.

Only, the shot didn't come from the basement. It clearly came from upstairs and Shisui remembered Itachi.

He quickly got up and took an agonizing look at Hana.

"I'll be right back," he promised. "I have to go help Itachi, okay? I'll be right back, I swear."

He blamed what happened next on the fact that every last ounce of focus was on Hana and not his surroundings.

Suddenly, Shisui felt something sharp go into his neck and he jerked to the side and groaned, pulling whatever the hell was in his neck out.

It had been a needle and syringe, and he stared in disbelief at the person who stabbed him with it.

"If you think I'm going to let you leave here with my only promising test subject, then you are sorely mistaken, Agent Uchiha," Orochimaru said.

He stood directly beside a large wooden desk that was not far from where Hana was still slumped over in the chair and produced a revolver from one of the drawers.

Shisui reached for his gun but Orochimaru leveled his revolver at Shisui's face.

"Stop right there," Orochimaru snapped.

Shisui's jaw locked and he reluctantly obliged and held his hands up.

"I knew Yakushi wasn't the right guy. I knew it and I didn't trust my gut even though I should have. It was just too easy and serial killers are _never_ that easy," Shisui hissed.

Orochimaru smirked and replied with a cool, "that sounds like a personal problem."

"No, because I have backup on the way and they're going to storm in here and drag your sorry ass out of here. You'll be reunited with Yakushi and you two can rot in prison together."

Orochimaru didn't look impressed.

"I have an excellent lawyer and more than one fall-guy. All I have to do is get rid of you," he said. His smirk twisted until it was more of a maniacal grin. "Perfect timing, by the way. Your little blowup on Sarutobi here was the reason why my followers were able to get her so easily. She was so sad and pathetic that she didn't even think twice before she opened the door for those two."

Shisui froze.

"How the hell—"

"Kin, Zaku, and Dosu have been following her for a while now. I knew who she was because of her father and had a sneaking suspicion that she would be the perfect test subject. And so far, it turns out I was right." Orochimaru looked at Hana and very casually walked closer to her. He kept his gun pointed as Shisui the entire time and quickly looked at her wrist where the veins were turning that awful charcoal color. "A little necrotic tissue is to be expected with how quick this process is and aside from the fever, she looks great. Wouldn't you agree?"

Shisui's eyes flickered over to Hana. He wanted to shout at her to _run_ and to get the hell out of there, but she was still seated in that chair, looking at Orochimaru with hazy eyes as her head lolled to the side.

"She's _dying_ you sonofabitch!" Shisui shouted. His heart was in the back of his throat and he couldn't take this for much longer. Hana would die if he didn't do something and do it fast.

"She's not dying, you imbecile! The cells are taking to her just fine and they're fighting the venom!" he shouted. His eyes widened to the point where Shisui could see the veins in the whites of his eyes even from the distance.

Shisui gritted his teeth.

_Venom?_

He pumped her full of venom?

Shisui was going to kill that guy. He was going to shoot him and strangle him until he was begging for death.

He grabbed his gun and Orochimaru barked something at him and blindly shot the revolver, hitting the ground a few times and successfully grazing Shisui's thigh.

Shisui grunted and dropped to one knee, just in time for Orochimaru to fire off another shot and graze his left bicep.

He yelped and immediately covered his arm with his free hand and looked at where the mad scientist advanced on him.

"I have attorneys and fall-guys and contacts on the inside that can get me out of this. The only loose thread here is you, Shisui Uchiha," Orochimaru hissed. He chuckled as he said it and stepped closer until the barrel of the revolver was pressed against his forehead.

"I'll be sure to tell Fugaku that you fought until the bitter end."

Shisui squeezed his eyes shut and said a silent prayer for Itachi, Sasuke, and Hana.

He just hoped that they'd all be okay after this.

Then, without warning, there was the distinct sound of a heavy object slamming against a person's body and Orochimaru suddenly dropped to the floor.

Shisui could have sworn time slowed down while he raised his head up to see his savior, expecting it to be Itachi.

But once he looked up all he saw was a head of bright blond hair and a fluorescent orange hoodie.

"Naruto," Shisui breathed out, eyes probably as wide as Orochimaru's had been moments ago.

Behind Naruto stood Sasuke and Sakura and Shisui's lips parted.

What the hell?

Naruto held a lug wrench that had blood on one of the ends, presumably from where he bashed Orochimaru over the head with it, while both Sasuke and Sakura stood empty handed. The only thing that looked out of place was that Sakura's bangs were now falling across her forehead whereas before they weren't.

"How—" Shisui didn't even finish the question.

"I've been picking locks for these two boneheads ever since high school. Doesn't matter if it's a doorknob or a padlock. Just takes a few bobby pins," Sakura said with a proud smile.

"And the lug wrench was with my spare tire kit. Figured we might need something to protect ourselves with," Naruto offered with an even bigger grin.

Shisui's eyes went to Sasuke next, waiting for an explanation.

Sasuke and Sakura both stood against that massive wooden desk, and that was when Shisui saw where the hell they must have come in from.

The cellar doors were directly behind that desk. No wonder Orochimaru put such a hulking piece of furniture there.

"I heard gunshots and got worried," Sasuke admitted. "Itachi was fine upstairs and we heard talking down here. Thought it might be better to come in this way. Y'know. Be unexpected and whatever."

As if right on cue, Itachi came down the stairs, and the first thing Shisui noticed was the small splatter of blood on his pants.

"It's not mine," Itachi said right away when he saw where Shisui was staring.

Shisui sighed and pulled himself up, resting all of his weight on his uninjured leg and risking a glance at Hana.

Whereas before she'd been delirious, at least she'd been awake.

But now she was unconscious with her entire upper body draped over the side of the chair and legs sprawled out in front of her.

She looked like a corpse and Shisui thought he was going to be sick.

"Hana," he murmured.

Itachi got to her first. He pressed his fingers to the pulse point in her neck, waited a moment, and then relaxed ever so slightly.

"She's still alive but she needs a hospital," Itachi said.

"But she's alive," Shisui repeated. It was all he needed to hear and he watched Itachi, waiting for his response.

"She's alive," Itachi said again.

Shisui closed his eyes in relief clutched tighter onto his wounded arm.

In the distance, he could hear sirens and he wasn't sure if he'd ever heard such a beautiful sound before.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**Thank you Random Stranger & Kellie for your reviews on Chapter 21!(:**_

_**Drop any and all feedback with a review please and thank you!(:**_


	23. Chapter 23

**_SORRY FOR THE DELAY! There was so much hockey and football going on yesterday that I was a piece of trash and LITERALLY FORGOT._**

**_Pls forgive me(:_**

**_(Also pls forgive me because this is not beta'd)_**

* * *

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Hana opened her eyes and blinked away the fog. All she could see was a horrible fluorescent light above her head.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Her wrist was faintly burning from where she'd been poisoned and there was a dull ache in the back of her skull and bridge of her nose.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

But she was oddly comfortable? More comfortable than she'd been before. Her legs were stretched out and her back wasn't against a hard chair.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Hana abruptly sat up and looked around.

She wasn't in that basement anymore, strapped to a chair and waiting for death.

She was in a hospital room, one with white walls, a blue floor, and obnoxious overhead lights that made her think of the one dangling in Orochimaru's basement. The annoying dripping came from an IV in her arm, one that was placed just where her arm bent instead of in her wrist.

Her eyes flickered down to her wrist from where Kimimaro had placed the IV and she winced at the black and yellow tissue there.

No wonder it had been so uncomfortable.

She heard movement to her right and she turned her head to see a small window and a rocking chair in front of it where her brother was seated with his arms across his chest and eyes closed.

She tried to clear her throat but it was so dry that she winced and immediately reached for the cup of water that was on the table beside the hospital bed.

She successfully grabbed it and chugged almost the entire thing and sighed in relief.

The sound of her sighing was enough to make Asuma open his eyes.

He gave her a long, almost bored look and then stretched his arms over his head with a yawn.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Hana mumbled as she averted her eyes.

"I'm your emergency contact, Punk," he said right away.

She actually had forgotten about that since she'd never needed her emergency contact before.

"Right," she said.

"How you feeling?"

"Like I've been used as someone's punching bag," she said. She tried to be casual and shrug her shoulders as she said it, but the movement made her seethe through her teeth due to how stiff her joints were.

Asuma let out a deep sigh and gave her a half-hearted smirk, "well that's what you look like."

Hana wanted to laugh, but she didn't think she had the energy. So she just smiled as brightly as she could.

Asuma stood up without another word and crossed the room in a few long strides. He stepped outside of the door and reemerged a few moments later with a nurse in tow.

"Oh thank goodness," the nurse said. She walked straight over to Hana and began fluttering around her, checking her IV, the monitor she was hooked up to, and other things that Hana didn't want to think about.

"How's your pain, Hana?" she asked.

The nurse had big brown eyes and brown hair that reached her chin. She had a kind face, an even kinder smile, and Hana automatically felt reassured just being in her presence.

"Uh, it's okay," she said.

"On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst pain of your life, what are you at right about now?" she asked with a friendly smile.

"Uh," Hana paused and gave it some thought. "I guess a four?"

The nurse's eyes flashed and she cocked her head to the side.

"That's it?"

"You don't have to act tough," Asuma cut in. "I know that's your thing, but some freak just used you for his science project. I'm assuming pain is normal under these circumstances."

Hana shot her brother an annoyed look that had her rolling her eyes.

"I'm not lying. I have a little bit of a headache and my nose kinda hurts, but other than that, I feel all right. My wrist hurts too but it's nothing unbearable."

"Hm… Interesting," the nurse said. She jotted a note down and Hana rubbed the back of her neck.

"What was your name?" Hana asked.

The nurse blushed and offered another smile before saying, "you can call me Rin."

"And how long have I been out, Rin?"

"We're coming up on day three," she said.

"Christ, three _days?_"

"Yeah. The cops have been itching to get at you. I'm sure once they hear you're awake they're gonna come barging in," Asuma said.

Hana sighed and felt the dull headache slowly begin to blossom across the rest of her skull.

"I'm going to go let the doctor know you're awake. Sit tight for me, okay?" Rin said.

Hana nodded even though the movement caused her pain. She sighed and rubbed her forehead as the nurse walked out.

Then she felt a hand anchor itself onto her shoulder and Hana looked to see Asuma giving her that same half-hearted smile from before and squeezing tighter.

"I'm glad you're okay, Punk."

She gave him her own half-hearted smile, one that so perfectly mimicked his.

"Me too."

* * *

"I should have shipped you off to police academy the minute you became friends with that idiot Uzumaki boy," Fugaku snapped. He slammed his hand on the coffee table in Itachi's apartment for extra effect and Sasuke fought back the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes into the back of his head.

"It's a good thing he was there, Uncle," Shisui offered.

Fugaku turned that wicked glare on Shisui next and Sasuke watched his cousin shrink back into the sofa through his peripheral vision.

"Don't even get me started on _you_. I've heard enough from Shimura. You and I will be having our own private discussion when I'm finished with your bonehead cousins."

"You can't listen to anything Shimura says. He hates my guts for no reason at all," Shisui argued, though his voice was relatively weak.

Fugaku didn't budge from where he sat on the other side of the coffee table in one of the chairs from the dining room. He simply crossed his arms over his chest and kept that glower leveled on Shisui.

"Shimura was close to your father. I can't imagine him disliking you without a valid reason," Fugaku deadpanned.

Shisui made a frustrated noise that was a cross between a huff and whine and raked his hands through his unruly hair.

"Father, it does appear that way. Chief Shimura has—"

"Don't you start," Fugaku hissed. He wasted no time cutting Itachi off and pointing his finger at his eldest son. "I expect this sort of behavior from Shisui, but from you? The fact that you let your stupid cousin go off _alone_ is just as bad! He almost died! How would you have felt if Shisui's blood ended up on your hands, Itachi?"

Both Sasuke and Shisui flinched.

Fugaku was always so hard on Itachi. Almost unfairly so.

Itachi didn't falter though. He just sat there with his back straight, eyes level, and shoulders pushed back as he met his father's gaze. Sasuke wished more than anything he could do something to help shield his brother from their father's wrath, but there was nothing he could do. There never was.

His whole life Itachi took the brunt of Fugaku's anger and it wasn't fair.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He had enough.

Someone had to stand up to Fugaku.

And since Itachi and Shisui couldn't necessarily do it since Fugaku technically was their boss, it fell on Sasuke.

He held his breath and tried to organize his thoughts.

Then he opened his mouth, Fugaku's cold eyes flickered to him, and then—

_Ring! Ring!_

Fugaku huffed and produced a cell phone from his pocket and pressed it to his ear with a curt, "what."

He listened to whoever was on the other line and Sasuke risked a look at Itachi. Instead of awaiting Fugaku's wrath though, Itachi and Shisui exchanged a look, having a conversation through eye contact alone.

The incident at Orochimaru's had been almost three days ago and Sasuke had been lucky in avoiding his father. Fugaku had been so busy with the cleanup that he hadn't gotten a chance to rip him, Itachi, or Shisui apart.

But all good things had to come to an end of course.

"I see. Thank you. I'll be there within the hour," Fugaku said.

He hung up the cell phone and leveled his gaze at Shisui.

"The Sarutobi girl has woken up," Fugaku said.

Sasuke heard Shisui breathe a sigh of relief and Sasuke chewed on the back of his bottom lip.

That really was a relief.

He didn't know Hana all that well, but seeing her body slumped over in that chair in the basement had been more than enough to make him worry.

People just weren't supposed to look that sickly.

"I can go down to the hospital and—"

"You'll do no such thing," Fugaku said as a matter-of-fact.

"What?" Shisui asked.

"I'm the only agent or officer she'll be speaking to until this investigation is closed. Your relationship with her is beyond inappropriate and I won't have her lying to me to spare your feelings."

Shisui bristled beside Itachi and pursed his lips into a thin line.

"You can see her once this investigation is over, but not a moment before."

Fugaku's tone left no room for any arguments. He then stood up, smoothed out his suit jacket, and headed for the door.

"I'm not done with any of you. We'll resume this later."

Then he slipped through the door and disappeared.

"Think I can avoid him for the rest of the time he's in town?" Sasuke mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"One hopes," Shisui said under his breath.

"We should go down to the station, Shisui. If Hana's awake then that means there's paperwork not far behind," Itachi said, sounding equally dejected.

"Yeah," Shisui said. He hesitated from where he was on the couch but eventually stood up and rolled his shoulders out.

Itachi rested a hand on the top of Sasuke's head and mussed his hair.

"You should stay here, okay?" Itachi said.

Sasuke gave his brother a dismissive wave of his hand, even if he secretly appreciated the gesture.

"Yeah. I'll be here," he grunted.

"Good," Itachi said.

Then, same as Fugaku, Itachi and Shisui slipped through the door and also disappeared.

* * *

"This… This is not normal," Hana's doctor, a woman with dark hair and dark eyes named Shizune said. She cocked her head to the side and examined Hana's chart over and over and _over_ again.

Hana didn't ask what wasn't normal. She already kinda figured it out.

Her pain level was astoundingly low for the number of pain meds she was on. Her headache almost went away, her nose (despite it being broken) no longer ached, and she felt stronger with every hour that passed.

That was not normal considering she'd been _dying_ three days ago.

"I'm not trying to scare you, but you really should be in much worse condition. You were injected with particularly potent venom, your organs were shutting down one by one, and you were practically on fire when they brought you in. But now… Now you seem fine?" Shizune muttered. She looked away from Hana's chart and at Hana's face instead, seemingly waiting for an explanation.

Hana didn't know what the cops had told the doctors. Hell, she didn't even know if they had told them anything at all. She figured they had to, otherwise how else would they have been expected to treat her?

"Well—"

She didn't get the chance to explain _why_ she seemed fine because suddenly there was a sharp knock on her door and in walked a man with deep brown hair, dark eyes, and a nasty scowl etched into his face.

"Excuse me, Sir? What's going on?" Shizune asked. She whirled around on her heel and started firing questions at the man but he simply entered the room and held his hand up.

"I apologize, Doctor. I'm Assistant Director Uchiha with the FBI and I have some questions for your patient," he said.

Uchiha.

He had to be related to Shisui then.

Hana guessed that this man was his uncle and likely Itachi and Sasuke's father. He shared their features of pale skin, striking dark eyes, and straight hair, even though it was a few shades too light.

"It's okay," Hana assured.

The doctor glared but didn't argue as she reluctantly made her way out of the hospital room.

Asuma left a little bit ago to check on Kurenai since he'd been at the hospital ever since she'd been brought in, so Hana had been alone when the FBI agent showed up.

Which was fine, even if she felt incredibly small in front of this Assistant Director Uchiha. She didn't have much to hide after all.

The man walked deeper into the room until he stood at the foot of her bed and leveled a steady stare on her.

"What can I do for you, Assistant Director?" she asked.

"You can start off by calling me Fugaku," he said. He never once broke his gaze, but he moved away from the foot of her bed and settled into the rocking chair in front of the window that Asuma had been occupying.

"All right then," she conceded.

"So you're the troublemaking journalist that almost got poor Shisui killed," Fugaku said with a hum. He leaned back and crossed one leg over the other and Hana couldn't help it when she looked away as the guilt came crashing down around her.

"He's headstrong and I'll give him that. But he's a good agent. A very good agent. You must have really gotten to him to make him forget that and rush headfirst into a dangerous situation without any backup," Fugaku said. He laced his fingers together and stared Hana down and she just wanted to bury her head in the sand.

"Is that why you're here? To guilt trip me?"

"On the contrary," Fugaku started. "I don't think you need my help in that department. That look on your face says it all. I'm only here to ask you some questions about what happened with Orochimaru."

She rubbed her temples and tried to ignore the weight of the guilt threatening to crush her chest.

"Ask away," she said.

Fugaku got right down to the nitty-gritty. He asked her all the tough questions. How did she meet Kin, Zaku, and Dosu? What did she know about the Zetsu Cells? Did she tell Shisui that she suspected Orochimaru? How did she get any information on Orochimaru? What information did she exactly have? Where did she get the inside information? What exactly happened at Orochimaru's? Etc.

Fugaku didn't budge an inch and she tried to be as open and honest as humanly possible with him.

She already dug herself a deep enough hole. No point in digging any further.

When Fugaku finished with the questions he uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs as he narrowed his eyes.

"So just to clarify, Shisui never told you anything?"

Hana sighed, "no. The only time he even mentioned the case was when he got a phone call out of nowhere because a body had been found. That's all."

Fugaku frowned and stared her down for a moment too long.

"What?" she finally snapped. "I told you everything I know! Why are you looking at me like that?"

Fugaku closed his eyes and shook his head in response.

"I'm not looking at you like anything. I'll be in touch, Sarutobi. We might need some more information as we close this investigation."

She shouldn't have asked it. She knew she had no business asking but damnit she just couldn't help herself.

"Is Shisui okay?" she asked.

Her memory of that night was foggy. She remembered the moment Orochimaru injected her with the Zetsu cells. She remembered the footsteps from upstairs. She also remembered Orochimaru putting duct tape over her mouth.

But that was where things got fuzzy, and she told Fugaku that much.

She was pretty sure she'd gotten delirious too because she vaguely remembered seeing Kagami and then crying for some reason.

But the rest was too fleeting to properly pin down.

Fugaku paused and seemed to be deciding whether or not he wanted to answer Hana's question, but ended up standing up and giving her a once over.

"Yes. His arm and leg were grazed by bullets, but he's just fine."

She closed her eyes in relief and sank back into the stiff hospital pillows and thanked whatever higher power there was that Shisui was _alive_ and _okay_.

"Take this for what it's worth, but you look remarkably well for someone who just about died on the way to the hospital," Fugaku said. He narrowed his eyes as he looked her over for the second time, seemingly perplexed.

Hana's stomach twisted.

"That's what everyone is saying," she said back.

Fugaku gave a tired sigh and plunged his hands into his pockets. He seemed to be having some sort of mental battle over whether or not he wanted to say something.

He probably wanted to get one last jab in there about how Hana was the reason Shisui and Itachi ended up in danger or something of the sort.

"I'll be sure to let Shisui know that you asked about him."

Hana blinked, dumbfounded.

Then, just as fast as he made his entrance, he made his exit.

She looked around the room and picked at the corner of her nails.

If only Shisui had come to see her instead.

* * *

Shisui had been finishing up paperwork at the station when Danzo stormed by and purposely bumped shoulders with him.

Shisui stumbled and gritted his teeth in pain, hand immediately going to his bicep and cradling it. His left arm and right leg were still sore from where Orochimaru shot him. Thankfully, the guy was a terrible shot and the bullets only grazed him, but he still didn't need asshole cops purposely running into him and making the pain worse.

"Watch your step," Danzo grunted.

Shisui bit his tongue and watched as the Chief of Police disappeared into his office and slammed his door shut with enough force that it rattled the picture frames hanging in the hallway.

"Miserable old man," Shisui said under his breath.

He made his way over to the kitchenette to grab some coffee for a much needed break just in time to see Raido washing dishes in the sink.

The tension in his shoulders was evident from a mile away and despite not having the stomach for any more drama, Shisui actually cared enough about Raido to want to know what was bothering him.

"You okay?" Shisui asked. He tried to be casual, asking as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just glad that Hana is okay and this whole thing is over," he said softly.

Shisui's eyes caught the way Raido scrubbed at a Tupperware container and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you brought lunch today, Raido. We could have eaten together. I just thought that you'd be out with Genma on your lunch break like usual."

There it was. The indication of what was really bothering him.

Raido's hands froze, his shoulders tensed even more, and he locked his jaw so tightly that Shisui almost thought the guy was going to chip a tooth.

"Yeah," Raido weakly said.

Shisui waited a moment before he said a quiet, "want to talk about it?"

Raido didn't respond and Shisui took his time in sipping his coffee before trying again.

"I might be the perfect person to talk to since I'm the closest thing to an outsider around here."

Raido smirked in spite of himself, but it was painful to look at and Shisui couldn't help but frown.

"I…" Raido hesitated and resumed scrubbing at the invisible spot on the Tupperware. "I think Genma might hate me."

Shisui's frown intensified.

He had seen Raido and Genma together enough times to be confused as hell. He could use a plethora of different words to describe their relationship. They were super close, a little codependent, and fiercely loyal to each other—almost strangely so.

But hate? That most certainly was not a word that ever crossed Shisui's mind when it came to describing Raido's relationship with his roommate.

"Genma? Are we talking about the same Genma? The guy with long hair and the toothpick, right?"

"That's the one," Raido said a little wistfully.

"Why the hell would he hate you?" Shisui blurted in disbelief.

Raido's brows knit together and he scrubbed harder.

"Because Genma has been avoiding me for days now and I finally confronted him about it and it turns out Hana said something to him that she shouldn't have said and now he won't speak to me," Raido confessed. He threw the Tupperware into the sink, splashing water up on himself and wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist.

"The worst part is that I can't even go ask Hana what the _hell_ she was thinking because she's barely alive and I can't be that asshole who screams at a girl who just almost ended up a murder statistic but this is _killing_ me."

Raido braced his hands on the sink and hung his head between his shoulders, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

"Am I a horrible person or what?"

Shisui waited a moment for Raido to get a chance to clear his head before speaking up.

"First of all, you're not a horrible person for being upset with a friend. I'm pretty sure Itachi is upset with me every day of his life—"

Raido snickered, "Itachi's your family though."

"So? He's still my closest friend," Shisui said with a soft smile. "Second of all, I'm sure everything with Genma can be fixed if you would just talk… Or are you two like Hana and get all flighty when there's been a misunderstanding?"

Despite how upset Shisui still was with the Hana situation, he still couldn't help but smile to himself when he thought about coming back from Tsunade's wedding and the way Hana all but bolted out of his car when she thought he wasn't interested in her, all because of a misunderstanding.

Raido scoffed but wore a barely noticeable smile that told Shisui all he needed to know.

"That must be your friend group. Normal people don't immediately assume the worst and go straight into flight mode," Shisui teased.

"You may have a point but that doesn't change the fact Hana said something to Genma that she had no business saying," Raido said, that tiny smile falling away.

"Look," Shisui said. He kept it casual by tucking his face into the rim of his paper cup to avoid further upsetting Raido, even though he knew that with what he was about to say it wasn't going to matter. "Just lay everything out on the table and tell the guy you're in love with him, okay? The damage is already done at this point, so the least you can do is be honest with him."

Raido's jaw dropped as he gaped at Shisui.

In fact, Shisui almost expected Raido to punch him or tackle him or _something _that didn't include just staring at him, but it seemed he was wrong.

"She told you too?" Raido shrieked.

"She didn't have to, Raido. I have eyes," Shisui teased with a knowing smile. What Raido didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Besides, Shisui suspected it pretty early on. Hana just confirmed it for him way back when.

"Oh my God," Raido groaned. He dried his hands on his pants and immediately hid his face in them.

"Yeah. So before you go yelling at the girl who almost became a murder statistic, maybe you should just go talk to your roommate like an adult. Who knows, right? Maybe it'll turn out better than you think."

Raido absolutely, positively, 1000% did not buy into a single word that Shisui just said, but that was okay because at least some of the tension left his shoulders and he didn't look like he was locking his jaw so hard he was going to chip a tooth anymore.

At this point, Shisui would take small victories wherever he could get them.

"What about you then?" Raido mumbled between pathetic little sighs.

"What do you mean?" Shisui asked.

"When are you going to talk to Hana and hear her side of the story?"

Shisui couldn't help it when he winced. He had hoped that by talking to Raido about his relationship problems that it would help distract him from his own.

Clearly, that had been wishful thinking.

"I don't think that's the same thing, Raido."

"It's not, but weren't you the one who just said something about acting like an adult?" Raido retorted.

Shisui worked his jaw and crossed his arms.

This was not where he wanted this to go.

"Let's make a deal," Raido started. He leaned against the counter and tapped his foot against the floor. "You talk to Hana after I talk to Genma. Sound fair?"

Shisui rolled his eyes.

"Or you could just talk to Genma and live happily ever after, and then I could just continue avoiding my problems?" Shisui retorted with a smug grin.

Raido snorted, "yeah okay. Come on. You're just about done the case which means you're probably going to end up in another city, right? The least you could do is make amends."

Shisui hadn't thought about that.

Raido was right, of course. It was just part of Shisui's job. He and Itachi went to different cities, worked whatever case was assigned to them, and then did it all over again when the case was solved. This time would be no different, no matter how different it may have felt.

"Fine. You've got yourself a deal," Shisui said. "You talk to Genma and I'll talk to Hana."

"Fantastic," Raido muttered sarcastically.

Shisui bit down on the inside of his cheek to hold back a smirk when he could just read the terror on Raido's face.

With any luck, Raido would chicken out and not say anything until after Shisui left for the next case.

Crisis averted.

Kind of.

* * *

After being chewed out by Fugaku earlier, Shisui had been beyond surprised when his uncle let him and Itachi question Orochimaru with him. It was something that was beyond Shisui's understanding because normally when Fugaku was pissed about something, he held a grudge for as long as humanly possible. But for whatever reason, he was allowing Shisui and Itachi a little bit of freedom and trust, and hell, who was Shisui to question his uncle's good graces?

Orochimaru's wrists and ankles were bound in shackles when he entered the prison's interrogation room. His black hair was greasy at the scalp and he had bags under his snakelike eyes, but other than that, he seemed remarkably comfortable.

"Hello, Agents," Orochimaru said.

"No attorney?" Fugaku noted right away.

"I'm afraid not. He won't be in the city until tomorrow."

"You're aware of your rights then?" Fugaku checked, narrowing his eyes into a scrutinizing glower.

"Of course. I've nothing to hide."

Shisui almost laughed and had it not been for the look Itachi shot him, he would have.

"Then we'll get started," Fugaku said. He pulled the metal chair back from the table and sat down, all smooth and graceful while Itachi and Shisui stood back, flanking him.

"How is Sarutobi?" Orochimaru asked before Fugaku even got his first question out.

Shisui's body tensed and he reacted purely on impulse.

"You've got some nerve asking that," he deadpanned.

Instead of Fugaku immediately reprimanding him, he simply exhaled and let Orochimaru respond.

"I take it she's doing just fine. You would be much more distraught if she wasn't," Orochimaru said. He cocked his head to the side and eyed Shisui down as a smirk slithered onto his face.

"She survived," Fugaku said before Shisui could say something stupid.

"Of course she did. I knew my hypothesis would be correct," Orochimaru remarked, still wearing that unnerving smirk. "Sarutobi was the perfect test subject. I couldn't have picked a better candidate."

Shisui's skin crawled and he rolled out his neck.

He didn't want to hear anyone ever refer to Hana as a test subject ever again.

"How many people did you experiment on?" Fugaku asked.

Orochimaru didn't say anything. He just leaned back and locked gazes with the Assistant Director.

"Who were your other accomplices?"

No answer.

"Where'd you get the money for your little basement setup? I know the school didn't supply you with it," Fugaku stated.

"Now there's a good question," Orochimaru said. He cracked his neck and chuckled, "that's a very good question, Uchiha. Where _did_ I get the money?"

There was something in his tone that Shisui didn't like, and he had a pretty good feeling that Itachi didn't like it either. That crease appeared in his cousin's forehead and that was all Shisui needed to see to know that he didn't just imagine the menacing undertone in the mad scientist's words.

"Lucky for me, Hana Sarutobi was looking into that," Fugaku said, a tiny smirk appearing on his face as well.

Shisui stared at his uncle in disbelief.

He didn't know that?

"Of course she was. She was taught by Jiraiya of all people. I'm not surprised," Orochimaru said. Shisui watched the way the smirk slowly fell from the man's face as his lip began to curl instead.

"She gave me her list and it looks pretty promising," Fugaku said. He shrugged and looked at Orochimaru expectantly. "Tell me where the money came from and the prosecutor will cut you a deal."

"My attorney isn't here and therefore you have no business to be offering me deals," Orochimaru hissed.

"You're the one who chose to talk to us of your own free will," Itachi cut in. He crossed his arms and gave Orochimaru that same unnerving stare Fugaku used and the scientist bristled.

"You can either tell me where the money came from and get a deal, or I can work through Sarutobi's list and find out for myself. The outcome may be the same, but if I'm the one working through the list then the prosecutor won't lift a finger to help you," Fugaku said. His voice never once rose in volume and he didn't pour any emotion into his words.

That almost made it worse. It was just so dry and matter-of-fact that the threat felt all the more real.

Fugaku didn't bluff and Orochimaru must have known better than to try and call him out on that.

Orochimaru leaned across the table and his black hair fell over his shoulder and across his left eye.

"We'll talk deals when my attorney is present."

Fugaku smirked and pushed himself away from the table. He stood up, towering over Orochimaru, and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Let's go, Boys. We've got a list to work through," he said. He then nodded at Orochimaru and said a smug, "thank you for your time."

As soon as they were out of the interrogation room and walking down the prison hallway, Shisui all but jumped on his uncle.

"What the hell do you mean Hana was looking into that?" Shisui asked.

Fugaku didn't even spare him a glance over his shoulder as they walked. He just looked straight ahead with a bored expression on his face.

"She suspected Orochimaru all along and was trying to follow the money. She has a list of possible benefactors she was going through."

"How do you know that?" Shisui pressed.

"Because I asked her," Fugaku replied.

"And she just told you? Just came right out with it? Just said that she suspected that guy and told _you_ of all people—"

"Yes, Shisui. She did. And for as much as I dislike the media, investigative journalists of her caliber are particularly useful in these situations. She had a hunch and followed it. I intend to do the same."

Shisui scoffed, "are you kidding me? Weren't you the one _just_ jumping down my throat about how inappropriate my relationship with her is?"

Fugaku abruptly came to a halt and Shisui almost ran directly into his uncle's back.

Fugaku whipped around so fast he almost gave Shisui whiplash and leveled a nasty glare on him.

"Your relationship with her _is_ inappropriate, Shisui. Sleeping with the journalist who is covering the very case you are working on is _beyond_ inappropriate. It's just lucky for you that she's good at what she does and that you didn't actually tell her anything related to the case," Fugaku snapped.

Shisui gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists at his sides.

"I don't know the full story of what happened with you two, but I know enough. I know that you didn't know she was covering the case, I know that you were tight-lipped when it came to it, I know that there was a nasty falling out at the police station, and I know that you clearly care _a lot_ about the damn girl since you just about died trying to save her. So just zip it and let me do my job so we can put this all behind us. All right?"

Shisui stared at his uncle with lips parted and shook his head in frustration.

"What? What the hell does any of that have to do with the fact that she apparently had a list of—"

"It has _everything_ to do with it," Fugaku said quickly. "This _whole_ thing could get you into serious trouble with the Bureau, especially if they get a hold of Chief Shimura's reports. I'm trying to protect you here so your job doesn't end up on the line and so you can finally stop acting like a petulant brat and _maybe_ settle down one day. All I ask is that you trust me, Shisui. For once."

Shisui's mouth was dry and he felt lightheaded all of the sudden. He was vaguely aware of Itachi watching him in the corner of his eye but couldn't look away from his uncle.

"You just need to listen to me, Kid. You can't see Hana until this investigation is over and you can't question me on it. Let me do my job and let me protect yours, okay?"

Shisui couldn't even say anything. It was so unlike Fugaku to be so protective and he suddenly felt like he was a child again, moving into his uncle's home after his father's death and adjusting to Fugaku's idea of tough love.

But Fugaku was a man of his word and if he said he would protect Shisui, then he would.

So Shisui nodded, cleared his throat, and responded with a hoarse, "okay."

* * *

A whole day had gone by and Hana felt like she had seen more doctors and nurses than she could physically count.

Everyone wanted to see her because of how strange and fast her recovery had been, and no matter how many times she'd been poked and prodded at with needles, no one had any idea why she had recovered so quickly.

At least, they hadn't before her third blood test came back.

"…They worked?" Hiruzen repeated. His eyes doubled in size and they flickered back between where Hana was scowling at her doctor and where Shizune stood beside Rin.

"That's right," Shizune said. "I myself didn't believe it at first, but the tests are conclusive. Those Zetsu cells really did work and you have them to thank for your speedy recovery and for your survival."

Hana wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Well I'll be damned," Asuma hummed.

"Does this make you like a superhero now?" Kurenai teased.

"So… I'm fine?" Hana asked in confusion, raising one eyebrow above the other.

"That's right. I'm going to recommend you come back every few weeks for the next couple of months so we can monitor your progress. It's amazing that they worked but we need to be prepared for any side effects," Shizune explained.

"In fact, we should be able to discharge you by tomorrow afternoon," Rin added with that all too kind smile.

Hana didn't register the sighs of relief and happy laughter that echoed around her from her father, brother, and sister-in-law. All she could think of was that she would forever have a piece of Orochimaru with her and she honestly had no idea how to feel about that.

But maybe that was normal for her.

She had that scar on her back from the time she'd been stabbed in Suna, had nightmares that sometimes plagued her dreams from the prison sentence she'd served in Ame. Why should this be any different?

"Hey, you okay?" Asuma asked.

"Yeah," Hana said, even though she felt more conflicted than ever before.

For the rest of her life, she would have these freaky little cells floating around in her body that had been the product of countless murders and taboo research.

How was she supposed to process that?

She thought about it and abruptly turned her attention to her father.

"Do you know what happened to Orochimaru and Kimimaro?"

Hiruzen certainly seemed caught off-guard by that question. He blinked a few times as the words sank in and eventually began to rock in that rocking chair by the window.

"Orochimaru is in custody and awaiting trial. I believe Shimura wants the prosecutor to cut him a deal so there's a conviction, but even with a deal, he won't be getting out of prison anytime soon. The same can be said for Yakushi. As for Kimimaro, I don't know. The only thing Shimura said about him at the press conference was that the FBI would be looking into him for now."

"Oh," Hana said.

She hoped that meant Shisui and Itachi would be sticking around. All she wanted to do was get the hell out of this hospital and go talk to Shisui.

Her memory from that night was still foggy, but it was starting to come back in pieces and she slowly started to remember Shisui crouching down in front of her and cradling her face, telling her that he wasn't upset with her.

Obviously, he only said that to calm her down, but that didn't change the fact it made her feel just a tiny bit better. Like maybe there was still a chance he didn't hate her guts.

Maybe, just maybe, he would talk to her and—

"Hana?"

Hana was pulled away from her thoughts at the sound of Shizune calling her name.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Hana asked.

"I was just asking about your pain," Shizune said with a friendly smile.

"Oh. It's fine," Hana said easily. "In fact, you could probably discharge me today if you wanted. Honestly, I don't think I need to take up a bed any longer."

Shizune chuckled and shook her head.

"I don't think so. We'll give it one more day and go from there. Take the time to rest tonight and we'll reassess tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

Hana frowned, feeling like a child and said a tight, "okay."

Shizune and Rin left after that, each wearing kind smiles that made Hana think of Shisui's bright grin that made her stomach do flips.

She would give anything to just to talk to him for five minutes and explain everything. That's all she needed.

She redirected her attention to her family and gave them all a weak smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Would any of you happen to know where my phone is?"

Kurenai gave her a knowing smirk.

"None of us do, but I think I know someone who does."

Hana waited a moment with brows furrowed, about to ask 'who' but then it clicked.

"Genma."

* * *

You would think that with the killer finally being caught that Shisui would finally be able to leave the station at a normal hour.

But no. Not the case.

He got stuck at the station doing paperwork piled on him from both Fugaku and Shimura and Shisui was starting to go cross-eyed from it all.

His head just wasn't in it either. He couldn't stop thinking about his uncle's words from earlier or about a certain freckle-faced journalist.

He was still hurt by everything and he still wanted to avoid her. That much was clear.

But there was this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him he needed to man up and confront her.

Which naturally, he couldn't do. Fugaku explicitly told him that he couldn't talk to Hana until they finished up the investigation. And sure, they were close, but they weren't quite there yet.

So Shisui just had to wait.

And it was absolutely destroying him.

He groaned and tossed the paperwork down, abruptly pushing himself away from the conference table and walking out into the hallway.

His legs carried him to the kitchenette for some much needed coffee for the second time that day and he rubbed at a knot in his neck, trying to get some relief.

Earlier, Raido was the one doing dishes in the sink.

Now, it was Chief Shimura.

Shisui saw the man's back and he considered turning around and going back the way he came, but then decided against it. He shouldn't have to avoid the kitchenette simply because a miserable old man was in there.

Besides, it would take him two seconds to go in there, grab some coffee, and immediately leave.

Shisui could do that. He wouldn't even have to talk to the guy.

He walked up to the counter and watched Shimura through his peripherals as he went through the motions of opening the cabinet, grabbing a paper cup, and pouring old coffee into it.

"Agent Uchiha," Danzo greeted in a low voice.

Shisui wanted to groan but refrained and responded with a tight, "Chief Shimura."

"So you caught the killer," Danzo continued on in that same low voice.

Shisui could feel how cold the coffee was through the thin material of the cup and glared at it. Really? It had to be cold? It couldn't even be lukewarm?

"Yes Sir," Shisui said. He walked around Danzo and popped the coffee into the microwave, carefully avoiding the man's personal space.

"I bet you're proud of yourself," Danzo murmured.

Shisui frowned and furrowed his brow. He crossed his arms as he leaned against the counter and looked over to his right at where the Chief of Police washed a mug in a sink full of soapy water.

"I guess?"

He winced and repositioned his weight so most of it was over his good leg and stared at the microwave, waiting for the numbers to reach zero already.

"Hmph. Imagine all the people who were relying on Orochimaru's research. Now they'll never get what was promised to them all because of you."

Shisui tore his gaze away from the microwave and leveled it at the chief.

What the hell did that mean?

"I'm sorry?" Shisui asked in confusion.

"You're a damn fool, do you know that? None of this would have happened if you and your cousin had just listened to me and pursued Yakushi. But no. You had to go all noble and save that ridiculous journalist!" Danzo snapped, dropping the mug into the water filled sink and pointing a heated gaze at Shisui.

There was something off in the man's eyes. His pupils were dilated and there was sweat beading on his forehead.

"Clearly, you're not feeling well," Shisui said. "I'll excuse myself."

He turned his back to grab his coffee and get the hell out of there before the man full on lost his mind and went on a tirade.

Only moments after he turned around, there was a sudden sharp pain in the leg that had been grazed by Orochimaru's bullets and Shisui yelped in pain, doubling over and clutching his thigh.

"_What the fuck!_" Shisui snapped.

Did Shimura just _kick_ him?

Suddenly, there was a hand at the back of Shisui's head and with a remarkable strength that left Shisui completely and utterly stunned, he was dragged across the counter until his face was submerged in the soapy dishwater.

Panic set in and Shisui flailed, planting both of his hands on the counter that pressed into his abdomen and pushed with all of his strength until he came up for air and sucked in a ragged breath.

"I am so _sick_ of the Uchiha!" Shimura's voice, no longer low and menacing but high pitched and _manic_, snapped.

Shisui couldn't hold himself up, not with his injured arm and suddenly his face was being submerged in the dishwater for a second time.

The hand that held the back of his head was _strong_ and Shisui could feel his limbs beginning to quiver in fear.

It was like that black velvet nightmare all over again, the one where he was sinking into icy cold, black water.

Only this was different. The water wasn't cold, but warm, and it wasn't black but gray and foggy.

The hand clenched around his hair and yanked him up so he was standing straight up, gagging on dirty water and gasping for air.

"Orochimaru was going to save me! And then you had to come in a screw it all up! All you Uchiha are exactly the same! I've had enough of your lot!"

Shisui braced himself when Danzo shoved his head so hard into the sink that his forehead actually collided with the bottom of it.

His heart desperately thrashed against his ribcage as he tried urgently to flail around until Danzo let up.

Only he didn't let up. He only pushed harder and Shisui's body started to get cold.

He couldn't do this again. He couldn't handle death by water. Not when he had been so close to it last time.

He couldn't—there was too much—what about—

His lungs burned, _begging _him to just do it. Just take a breath and get that sweet relief he so desperately needed.

This was it. He really was going to die.

He was going to drown like he almost had in the river, like he did every night in his dreams.

He was going to be killed in dirty dishwater at the hand of his father's friend.

He all but accepted his fate when he felt his father's heavy watch around his left wrist.

How would Kagami feel if this was how he went out? Killed without even putting up a fight? What kind of death was that?

Both Fugaku and Kagami raised Shisui better than that, and he couldn't let some washed-up old man do this to him.

And fucking hell, if Hana Sarutobi could survive some freak human experimentation then there was no reason why Shisui Uchiha couldn't survive an angry old man's pathetic attempt to drown him.

Shisui was running out of air though and he had to do something quickly.

Not knowing what else he could do, he felt around for something—_anything_ he could use to get him out of this situation.

His hand brushed what felt like a mug and that was enough for Shisui.

Gritting his teeth through the searing pain in his wounded leg from Danzo pinning it to the counter with his knee, Shisui rested all of his weight on that bad leg, brought his good leg up and stomped as hard as he possibly could on Danzo's foot.

There was a noise from Danzo that Shisui couldn't quite hear, but the man's hold loosened just enough for Shisui to push himself up.

Before he even had a chance to choke on the water, he grabbed the mug, swiveled his torso, and blindly swung the cup with all of his strength so it connected with Danzo's temple.

It shattered on impact and Danzo groaned in pain, bringing both of his hands to his now bleeding temple.

"Why you little—"

Danzo swung something at Shisui, though he didn't see what. All he saw was red once it connected with his right eye, and once again, Shisui yelped out in pain.

"_What the fuck is wrong with you, Old Man?_" Shisui snarled.

Danzo charged him a second time, brandishing the broken handle from the mug. Shisui realized right away that that must have been what he used to cut his eye.

He sidestepped Danzo and despite the pain in his eye from being slashed, and the pain in his leg and arm from being shot at, he grabbed Danzo by the shoulders and shoved him down so his head cracked against the counter and he crumpled to the floor, blacking out from the impact.

Shisui caught his breath and only then did he realize just how fucking much his eye hurt.

He groaned and leaned his back against the refrigerator and clapped his palms over his eye and seethed through his teeth.

"HOLY SHIT!"

Shisui looked over at the threshold of the door to see Ebisu standing there, jaw hanging so slack that it might as well have been on the floor.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Ebisu demanded.

"What happened is that Chief Shimura was working with Orochimaru and just tried to fucking drown me! That's what happened!" Shisui snapped. He winced again and clutched harder at his eye.

Ebisu stood there, jaw still slack and still frozen as he stared at the scene.

Shisui huffed and pulled his hand away from his face long enough for Ebisu to see just how badly his eye was injured.

"Well? Call a fucking ambulance!"

Ebisu didn't say anything. He just lingered there a moment longer and then promptly bolted out of the kitchenette.

Shisui exhaled and slid to the floor, cradling his eye the whole way down.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**THANK YOU X1000000 to: Kankananime123, MiyuKazu, Random Stranger, TheShadowInDarkness, Kellie, jenxtt, and amaterasu098 for the reviews!**_

_**The final chapter is soon to follow!**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Author's note: ****I know this was supposed to come out 1-2 days after Chapter 23 but life happened and I ended up rewriting this entire chapter. Thank you for being so patient!**_

* * *

Genma could not have arrived a moment too soon.

Hana appreciated how much her family cared about her and how worried they were, but she also was being suffocated.

Between the doctors, nurses, CNAs, and her family, she was about to lose her mind.

All she wanted was for someone to act normally around her.

Yes, she'd almost been killed. And yes, she'd gotten way too close to her story. All of that was fair.

But damnit all, if her family wouldn't stop looking at her with those sad "poor Hana" eyes she was going to pop a blood vessel.

It was just like when she came back from Ame.

She just hated all the goddamn attention.

So when Genma arrived at her hospital room with her cell phone and a fresh perspective, she almost cried tears of joy.

"My hero!" she gushed.

Genma smirked and walked deeper into the room, pushing his way right between her father and Asuma and brought one arm around her shoulders for a tight hug.

"Damn right I'm your hero. Without me they wouldn't have known you were missing in the first place," he said.

Hana didn't know that? So far, Fugaku had been the only cop who talked to her and he didn't mention anything about that. All he did was interrogate her for well over a half-hour.

"Really?" she asked when he pulled away.

"Yeah. I made a whole scene at the station because no one took me seriously at first."

She didn't want to imagine what that looked like. Genma, while easygoing and laid back for the most part, could have a fiery temper when provoked.

It was one of the many reasons why she loved him so much.

"Thanks," she said.

"Mhm. So how you feeling?" he asked, standing beside Asuma with his hands in his pockets.

"Surprisingly well. I'm even getting discharged later today."

"Oh hell yeah," he said.

Never being one to wait, Hana quickly pulled her phone out and texted Shisui. It was short and to the point, asking him to grab coffee so they could talk and she left it at that.

Hopefully, he would give her a chance to explain herself. She didn't want to think about how it would feel if he didn't.

"Texting your fed?" Genma asked.

Hana's cheeks flushed and she did her very best to ignore the snickers that came from her father, Asuma, and Kurenai.

"Shut up," she mumbled.

"What's going on with him anyway?" Asuma cut in. Hana looked at where her brother was fidgeting beside his wife, probably itching for a cigarette.

"What do you mean?" Hana asked.

"Well, you brought him to Tsunade's wedding and didn't tell any of us what was going on with you two. You dating? Just hooking up? Gimme something to work with, Punk."

"Asuma," Hiruzen said with an eye roll.

"He's got a good point," Kurenai said with a light laugh.

Hana shot a look at Genma, just in time to catch him fighting back a snicker, evident from the way he purposely fiddled around with his toothpick.

"I don't know," Hana admitted. "He kinda hates my guts at the moment though."

"I don't suppose that has anything to do with the fact you were writing about the Ryuchi Killings for work while he was investigating it, does it?" Asuma remarked.

Hana huffed and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands.

"Pretty much."

"Did you not tell him?" Kurenai asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"Nope. He somehow figured it out on his own before she ever told him," Genma quipped.

"_Hana_," Kurenai immediately scolded.

"Hm, that'll do it. That'll piss someone right off," Asuma said.

"_I know!_ I know, okay?" Hana snapped at them. "I panicked and didn't know what to do! I wanted to tell him but I choked and now he hates my guts."

"I don't think he hates your guts _that_ much since he's the one who saved you," Genma said. He shrugged and removed the toothpick from his mouth. "I could be wrong though. Maybe he does."

"You can't build a relationship based on lies, Hana," Hiruzen said. He rocked comfortably in that rocking chair and Hana rolled her eyes the way she used to do when she got lectured when she was fourteen-years-old.

"Okay, _Dad_."

"I sincerely hope you plan on explaining yourself," Hiruzen said.

"That's the plan. Kinda why I just texted him," she grumbled. "I plan on talking to him face-to-face the second I get discharged."

"And when will that be?" Genma asked.

She looked at Genma and grinned ear to ear at him.

"This afternoon."

* * *

"Raido?" Genma asked on his way out of the hospital. He tilted his head to the side when he saw the tall man breeze by and came to a halt against the wall.

Raido paused and looked over his shoulder, locking eyes with Genma.

Suddenly, he held his breath and regretted calling out to his friend.

All he could think about was the last conversation they had the night Hana was brought to the hospital.

_Genma couldn't sleep. He'd been lying in his bed since 10:00pm and it was already almost 3 in the morning. He'd spent the last several hours tossing and turning and worrying about his friend._

_There was nothing he could do to help find her and nothing he could do to calm his mind._

_The night just dragged on and on._

_But then, there was the sound of the apartment door opening and closing, and Genma stared up at the ceiling._

_He waited for the hallway light to turn on and illuminate the crack beneath his bedroom door. Usually, the first thing Raido did when he got home from work was immediately take a shower, eager to clean himself off after being on patrol._

_So Genma waited to hear the familiar sounds of Raido's footsteps, the bathroom door closing, and the creaking water pipes._

_Only it never came._

_He sat up in bed and looked at his door in the darkness. There was no light coming from beneath it and the harder Genma tried to listen for Raido, the more acutely aware he became of how quiet it was._

_His stomach churned with worry and he climbed out of bed and walked through the dark apartment and into the living room._

_The only light was the one in the kitchen that Genma left on for Raido the nights he worked late, and the dim light from the other room just barely lit the room._

_Raido was lying on the couch, slumped over from where he sat down. His feet were still on the floor, but he was slumped over on his side with his arm hanging off the sofa and face pressed into the cushion._

_He hadn't even taken his shoes off._

_Genma's pulse quickened and suddenly Hana's words played in the back of his head. Just like that, the off-handed remark about how Raido supposedly was in love with him echoed painfully in his temples._

"_Raido," Genma croaked, wincing at the hoarseness in his voice._

"_Mmph?" Raido grunted. His eyes were still closed and body so still that Genma had half the mind to wonder if he just imagined his friend's response._

"_Did you find Hana?" Genma asked._

_That got the cop's attention._

_Raido's eyes slowly opened._

_Genma couldn't see the color of his irises with the weak, backlit light, but he could see the thoughts move across his friend's face._

_Genma had spent his whole life learning to read Raido's expressions, and even in poor lighting, he could read it with ease._

"_Yeah," Raido said._

_His voice was rough with exhaustion and Genma nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other._

"_Is she okay?"_

"…_I don't know."_

_Genma flinched and locked his fingers together at the back of his neck, already pacing as his nerves began to fray._

"_Fuck, she's gonna die… She's gonna fucking die. My best fucking friend is gonna fucking die," he hissed to himself, squeezing his eyes shut and pacing faster._

"_Hey," Raido tried, but Genma couldn't quite hear him. He was too lost in his own panic to pay attention._

_Genma continued pacing and hissing to himself as the panic bloomed in his chest, and just when he thought he was about to snap under the pressure of it, there was a hand at his elbow, snatching him and dragging him back to reality._

"_She's in the hospital right now with amazing doctors. I'm sure she'll be fine," Raido said softly. "Besides, you know how pissed she'll be if she can't turn her own kidnapping into a story. You know she'll pull through."_

_Genma couldn't help it when he let out a sharp laugh in spite of everything. He put his fist to his mouth as soon as the bittersweet sound escaped his lungs and his eyes simultaneously honed in on the affectionate smile tugging at the corner of Raido's lips._

Oh_._

_Oh fuck._

_Holy shit._

_Even in the weak light, Genma could see just how affectionate that smile really was and how Raido's eyes flitted across Genma's face, searching for any signs of distress. Then Genma became aware of how close he stood to Raido, almost chest to chest and it all made sense._

_Raido was in love with him and he never noticed._

_He couldn't stop himself. The words came out of their own accord and Genma hated himself the instant it happened._

"_Hana told me something the other day about you," he blurted._

_Raido stared and furrowed his brow in confusion, pulling away just a step._

"_Okay?" he mumbled._

"_She said you've had a crush me since we were kids which is totally crazy, right? I dunno where she got that from but she said it so offhandedly that I'm sure she was just fuckin' with me. I mean, we've been friends our whole lives. How crazy would that be, right? We're just really close friends. I don't know what I would do without you but it was just super weird that she would say that, y'know," he said without taking a breath even once, making his words practically slur together._

_Raido's lips parted and then he took another step back. And then another._

_And another._

"_Yeah. That would be crazy," he said slowly._

_Genma wanted to put his own head through a glass wall._

_What the fuck was wrong with him? Why would even say tha—_

"_I'm gonna go take a shower and go to bed," Raido said without looking even once at Genma._

_He already walked away, heading out of the living room and into the bathroom._

_Only then did Genma react._

"_Wait, Raido—"_

_Genma didn't know if Raido actually heard him or not and it didn't matter because as soon as Genma reached him, he slipped inside the bathroom and shut the door in Genma's face._

"What are you doing here?" Raido asked. He stood off to the side, standing against the wall with Genma and narrowed his eyes.

"I came by to see Hana and drop her phone off," he said quickly. "What are you doing here? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Genma's eyes flashed up and down Raido's frame a few times to look for any injuries, but he seemed just fine. He wore jeans and a t-shirt and Genma didn't know what to make of that. He had been under the assumption Raido was on the clock, but clearly not if he was in street clothes.

So then why—

"I'm fine. Just checking on Shisui," Raido said. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, practically glaring at Genma.

Genma couldn't help it when his lips pulled down into a frown.

"Shisui? What's he doing here?"

Raido huffed and shrugged.

"Can't say. There was an incident at the station and he needs surgery on his eye now. Aoba, Hayate, and I came down to talk to him and Itachi."

Genma didn't even want to know what kind of incident occurred. Between Hana, the serial killer, and everything else, he just didn't have the stomach for anymore bullshit.

"All right. You off the clock or something? I thought you were working."

"I got done a little while ago."

Genma fidgeted in frustration.

He hated it when Raido was short with him. Absolutely fucking hated it.

"Okay then… We're gonna—"

"Seriously?" Genma snorted. He reached into his pocket, produced a toothpick, and popped it into his mouth, immediately chewing on the back end of it to calm himself.

"What?" Raido asked. He didn't uncross his arms or smile. He just stood there with a sour look on his face.

"You've been acting weird ever since—"

"Ever since when?" Raido challenged, cutting Genma off before he even got the sentence out. Genma's eyes narrowed and he glared, biting down harder on his toothpick.

"Don't be like that," Genma tried.

He didn't want to fight with Raido. Not now. Not ever.

"Me? You're the one who's been all twitchy and awkward ever since Hana told you that I've got a thing for you," Raido said quickly.

Genma's shoulders tensed and he looked off to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Can we please not do this here?" he asked under his breath. "I don't know why I said that. It was just a stupid joke that Hana made and—

Raido pursed his lips into a tight line and cut in with an abrupt, "it wasn't a joke."

Genma's reaction was instant, eyes flitting up to Raido's, lips starting to part, and shoulders pulling taut enough to make them ache.

"Huh?"

"It wasn't a joke," Raido said. He carefully held Genma's eyes in a heavy stare and continued with a soft, "I'm in love with you. Have been since high school."

Genma's mouth felt dry and suddenly his toothpick fell from his lips.

"Wow," Raido said, eyes trailing the toothpick all the way to the floor. "Not the reaction I was expecting."

Genma found himself leaning his arm against the wall, eyes intensely focused on Raido and only him, blurring everything else around him.

"Raido, you don't mean that."

Raido's brows knit together and the corner of his lips pulled down into a frown and Genma's heart squeezed.

He hated it when Raido looked so upset. How many times in the years they'd been friends did Genma go out of his way to comfort the scarred man in front of him? How many times did Genma stay up late with Raido after a brutal shift where the man had seen something horrible while on patrol? How many times did Genma do everything possible in his power just to bring a smile to the guy's face?

He clenched his hands into fists to try and ease those nerves and became all too aware of how clammy his palms were.

"No, I definitely do," Raido said. His voice was rougher than before and Genma locked his jaw.

Raido plunged his hands deep into his pockets and gave Genma a tight smile that didn't even come close to reaching his eyes.

"It's all good. You don't have to say anything. I'm just sorry to put you in this position and make you uncomfortable."

Genma's throat closed up.

God, what the fuck was _wrong_ with him? Why couldn't he say anything? Why couldn't he reach out, sling an arm around his friend's shoulders and reassure him that everything would be okay?

Why were his palms so clammy and why did it feel like someone was zapping him with static electricity?

"I'm gonna stay at Hayate's for a few nights. That way you can have some space," Raido said. That fake smile weakened and Raido cleared his throat when his plastered on expression faltered. "I'm really sorry about all this. Hopefully, you don't hate me too much. It's really not that big of a deal."

He turned over his shoulder and started to walk away.

And Genma didn't even think, didn't speak, didn't give it another second.

His hand shot out of its own accord, grabbing Raido's tense shoulder and spinning him back around so he faced him.

"What is—"

Genma didn't give him a chance to get his words out because the instant Raido faced him he brought one hand around the back of his neck, pulled him closer, and kissed him hard on the mouth.

The only reaction from Raido was a muffled, sort of surprised, and somewhat terrified gasp.

Genma lingered for a short moment and then pulled back, but chose to leave his hand anchored at the back of Raido's neck.

"I'm not… I'm not great with words, okay?" Genma said, using up every ounce of courage to look Raido square in the eye, despite how burning hot his face was.

"You do know that you're a journalist, right?" Raido said with a quiet laugh that made Genma actually breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's different. That's writing," Genma clarified with a nervous laugh. "I'm not good at _talking_ about how I feel, all right? I'm not even that good at mentally processing it. But you—this—I just…" he huffed and slapped his free hand to his forehead.

"Eloquent," Raido teased.

"Shut up," Genma said with a weak laugh. "I've been dealing with _this_ for what feels like forever. I care about you way more than what's normal for just friends or roommates, and I'm sure you've noticed."

Raido didn't pull away from him and actually shifted a little closer so their chests were almost touching.

"I dunno. I just didn't know what to do about it because I love our relationship. I love that you're my roommate and closest friend. I love how much we trust each other. So, I didn't want to think about how much I cared about you because I didn't want to fuck that all up," Genma carefully reached for Raido's hand and hesitantly squeezed it. "But if—if you're telling the truth then… Well then…"

Genma didn't know what else to say. He _had_ nothing else to say.

And thank God that Raido noticed because once he did, he closed the gap between them and kissed Genma softly on the lips, one arm going around his waist and the other hand cupping his cheek.

Genma sighed into the kiss, not even caring that they were in public. He slanted his lips against Raido's and tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. Raido held him tighter and sucked on his bottom lip and—

"FINALLY!"

They promptly separated, both equally startled.

Genma looked over Raido's shoulders to see both Aoba and Hayate standing not far behind Raido, each wearing smirks on their smug faces.

"It's about goddamn time. I was starting to think it was never gonna happen," Aoba said. He nudged Hayate with his elbow and the normally quiet man graced them with a chuckle.

"I'm glad you both figured it out," Hayate remarked.

Genma was going to ask them what the hell they were doing in the hospital, but then he remembered Raido telling him about Shisui and it all clicked.

Which made him wonder…

"How long have you two been standing there?" Genma asked.

"Long enough," Hayate said.

"Plenty long enough," Aoba agreed with a widening grin.

Genma shook his head with a chuckle.

"Hana's gonna be stoked when she hears about this," Aoba teased.

Genma looked at Raido to see that his cheeks were flushed pink, but that he finally had a relaxed smile on his face.

It was all Genma needed to see and he smiled, not caring at all about Aoba's relentless teasing.

He slipped his hand into Raido's and smiled harder when his blush deepened even more.

"I'll be sure to thank her for spilling your secret once she's discharged," Genma said.

Raido laughed and squeezed Genma's hand.

"Yeah, thank God for loud-mouthed friends."

* * *

Shisui had been rushed into surgery the minute he got to the hospital because holy shit his eye was in bad shape.

It was definitely worse than he initially thought and the adrenaline must have kept the pain at bay because once he got into the hospital and the shock began to wear off, he was in a _ridiculous_ amount of pain.

He'd barely been able to pull his hand away from his eye long enough for the ER nurse to look at it because it hurt that bad.

The rest had been a blur as they hurried him into surgery.

And now that he was awake from surgery and on medication to prevent infection, he was pissed beyond belief.

"If I lose my fuckin' eye all because Danzo Shimura is a crazy old man who was working with a literal psychopath, I'm going to lose my fucking shit," Shisui complained to Itachi.

His cousin, being the ever perfect saint that he was, just calmly listened to Shisui rant and rave for the better part of fifteen minutes before he finally interjected.

"The doctor already told you that you're not going to lose your eye," Itachi said with the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"No, but I might go blind in it," Shisui hissed under his breath.

He shifted around in the hospital bed, trying to get comfortable. He just wanted to fucking leave and personally be there when Fugaku questioned Danzo and dug up all the shit on him.

"She said there's only a ten-percent chance of that happening," Itachi said, once again exhibiting the patience of a saint.

"But even if I don't lose my eye I'm going to have the vision of a sixty-year-old."

"At least you still have your eye," Itachi said carefully.

"I can't believe he tried to fucking drown me! Hiruzen Sarutobi told me that Danzo was good friends with my father! If he tried to kill me, then did he try to kill Kagami too? This doesn't make any fuckin' sense!"

"Language," a voice chided upon entering Shisui's hospital room.

Shisui crossed his arms and pouted at the pretty brunette nurse who came in to check on him.

"I see you're feeling better," she said.

"Oh yeah. Feeling great," Shisui drawled.

"Shisui," Itachi scolded, lightly smacking him on the shoulder.

"Right," Shisui mumbled. His eye that wasn't currently covered by gauze flashed to the nurse. "I'm sorry, Rin."

"That's okay," she said with a kind smile. She went about checking his chart and administering medication, all while asking him questions to probably get his mind off the situation at hand.

"How'd you get the wounds on your arm and thigh?" she asked as she went about her duties.

"I was grazed by some bullets," Shisui said with a frown.

"That's right. I think I remember your last nurse telling me that. You're a cop, right?"

"FBI agent."

"Oh! You weren't working on the Ryuchi Killings, were you?"

Shisui didn't mean to grimace. Seriously. Rin was nicer than the last nurse and she seemed to genuinely care about how he was feeling, but talking about the Ryuchi Killings was not going to make him feel any better. It was just going to raise his blood pressure and make him wish he let Danzo drown him.

"We were," Itachi answered so Shisui didn't have to.

Shisui reclined against his pillow and looked up at the white ceiling, silently praying like hell that he wouldn't lose his eye.

"How exciting!" Rin said, and Shisui could hear the smile in her voice. "There was someone just discharged today who was connected to the case."

No sooner did the words leave her mouth did Shisui's head snap in Rin's direction and did she gasp and cover her mouth with her hand.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just got a little excited," Rin said quickly. "Please, just disregard—"

"Yes, it was Hana Sarutobi," Itachi said with a little smile.

Shisui narrowed his eyes.

What the hell was that?

"How did you…" Rin mumbled. Then, seemingly remembering herself, said, "I'm sorry, but I can neither confirm nor deny if that person has been here."

"That's quite all right. I saw her earlier today. I was going to talk to her but she was with her family and I didn't want to interrupt."

Shisui could feel his head cocking to the side.

What did that mean? He didn't know that? And why would Itachi want to talk to Hana of all people?

"To question her about the case?" Rin asked curiously.

"To see how she's doing," Itachi clarified. "She's dating Shisui and I was concerned about her."

It was a damn good thing that Shisui wasn't drinking anything because he would have spat it out if he was.

"What?" he said blankly. "We're not—"

"_Oh!_ Oh, you poor thing! You must have been worried sick and then for you to end up here as well? I'm so sorry!" Rin said. "If I had known that I would have told her to stop by before she left! She was discharged just as you were waking up."

"Now hang on—"

"That's okay. Things happen. Tell me, how was she doing?" Itachi asked, carefully ignoring Shisui.

"She was doing great. She should be back to her old self in no time."

"That's wonderful. Thank you for letting us know. We really appreciate it," Itachi said. He kept that easy smile on his face and Rin eagerly returned it.

Itachi didn't smile much, but when he did, he could make anyone eat out of the palm of his hand.

Rin left not long after that, and the minute she was out of the room Shisui fired a sharp glance at his cousin and silently waited for an answer.

"Is there something wrong?" Itachi asked.

Smug bastard.

"Uh yeah? What the hell was that? Hana and I aren't dating? We're not even speaking to each other."

"Oh, you're not? You seemed pretty eager to talk to her when we met with Fugaku," Itachi said. He moved away from where he'd been leaning against the little window and sat down on the foot of Shisui's bed with his arms crossed.

Shisui could feel himself pouting and he looked off to the side.

"Whatever."

"Not whatever. You need to talk to her," Itachi said.

"See, that's what I thought, but I don't think so anymore. I've had time to think about it and I've decided that it is not in my best interest to talk to the girl who ripped my heart out because she used me to further her own career. That just seems like a bad idea."

Itachi hummed and Shisui visibly cringed when he heard the words leave his mouth.

He really was pathetic, wasn't he?

Itachi's eyes then glinted in a way that made Shisui immediately suspicious.

"What did you do?" Shisui asked.

Itachi shrugged and said a nonchalant, "nothing really. I saw that Hana texted your phone and I may or may not have suggested she come over for dinner one night."

Shisui's mouth actually fell open.

The nerve!

"Didn't you hear Fugaku? I'm not even allowed to talk to her until the investigation is closed!"

"Lucky for you, it is. Chief Shimura was the source of Orochimaru's funding and that was the last piece of information we needed. The case is solved which means you are free to meet up with your journalist and hash things out," Itachi said.

His cousin actually smirked at him and if Shisui wasn't a little high from all the pain meds he would have reached over and slapped him.

"I don't _want_ to talk to her!" Shisui finally snapped. "I thought I did, but I don't. I don't want to sit there and listen to her talk about how all I was to her was an opportunity!"

Itachi's smirk fell off his face and it was replaced with a very serious look that made Shisui see flashes of Fugaku.

"Shisui, listen to me," Itachi tried. "I know that you're upset about what happened and I don't blame you for that. Anyone would be. But I think that you should at least sit down and listen to her side of the story."

Shisui wanted to act like a petulant child and say that he _did_ know her side of the story and that he didn't need to hear anything else from her.

But he knew that wasn't true.

And on the backs of his eyes, he could still see the image of her crying in Orochimaru's basement and apologizing to him.

His chest tightened and he knew that Itachi was right.

He didn't say anything and risked a nervous look at where his cousin was still seated at the foot of his bed.

Itachi, able to read the expression on Shisui's face right away, smiled softly.

"As soon as you're out of here you should invite her over and just talk. Okay? If you decide it isn't worth it after you've spoken to her, fine. But at least hear her out."

Shisui sighed and nodded without any further argument.

Like Itachi suggested, he didn't have to forgive her after all. He just had to listen to her side of the story.

And Shisui could at least do that much.

He just might not get around to it as quickly as Itachi wanted.

* * *

It had been seven days since the Ryuchi Killings were officially solved and Yumi had been beyond relieved.

Kabuto never got out of prison and no one at Terumi Wealth Management got anymore details on the things their former office manager had done, and you know what?

That was fine.

Yumi didn't want to think about all the awful things Kabuto probably did. She knew him too well for that and didn't want to freak herself out any further.

So when an FBI Assistant Director gave a press conference saying that they caught the actual killer, the killer's accomplice, and everyone associated with the murders, she and the company breathed a collective sigh of relief.

And then Yumi saw the headlines.

The headlines talking about how award-winning journalist, Hana Sarutobi, had been abducted by the killer and rescued by two FBI agents.

Yumi wasn't sure if it was humanly possible to be as annoyed with the journalist as much as she was, but she somehow found a way.

And whenever Yumi tried to call Shisui, he ignored her.

And this was annoying because if anything, Yumi thought they could be friends after she did him a favor and told him about Hana.

But she got nothing from him.

No text. No phone call.

Nothing.

And what exactly was she supposed to do about that? She wanted to be friends with the guy and move on from their past, but that was difficult with the way he avoided her like the plague.

If he would just answer the phone and talk to her they could put everything behind him.

He owed her that much.

She saved him from making a fool out of himself with Sarutobi. The least he could do was grab drinks with her and be civil.

She'd get him to come around. He always did when it came to her.

He just needed a little nudge in the right direction…

* * *

Hana had been discharged from the hospital for all of three days before she decided to go back to work.

She probably could have had at least two more weeks off, but sitting alone in her apartment to relive the moment of her kidnapping was doing nothing for her. All it did was make her go stir crazy and she couldn't do it for much longer.

So on the third day, she got up, got dressed, and went into work on a Friday morning.

And sitting in that usual Friday morning meeting beside Genma, listening to Mr. Hyuga drone on about the same things he droned on about every week felt normal enough to make her temporarily forget herself.

But eventually, she zoned out in the middle of the meeting and thought about Shisui and how he still didn't text her back.

She tried texting and calling multiple times, all to no avail.

Itachi had texted her the day she'd been discharged, saying that she should come over for dinner one night, but he didn't say when and Hana was a little too embarrassed to ask Shisui's cousin to talk some sense into him.

So she felt helpless.

He wouldn't even give her a chance to apologize and she hated herself more and more with each passing minute.

She finally met someone good. Someone kind and thoughtful. Someone who could deal with her restless disposition.

And what did she do with that?

Completely and totally fuck it up.

She hated what she did to him and she hated that he wouldn't even give her a chance.

Not that she blamed him though.

She was good at fucking things up anyway.

"Sarutobi," Mr. Hyuga said.

"Huh?" Hana squeaked, eyes coming back to reality to focus on the unamused expression on her boss's face.

"Not listening I see," he said.

Hana cleared her throat, sitting a little straighter in her seat and looked at Genma through the corner of her eye.

He only shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I uh… I zoned out for a minute there."

A chorus of chuckles from her colleagues echoed around her and she could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"I suppose I don't blame you," Mr. Hyuga said with a sigh. "I was asking if you would feel comfortable interviewing the agents who saved your life. It would be a good way to end the piece."

Hana blinked and swallowed back the lump in her throat.

"Well, Sir. You see. Um. I don't think either of the agents will be able to talk to me—"

"I was under the impression Shiranui already set up a meeting?" Mr. Hyuga replied, narrowing his light eyes.

"What?" Hana asked. She looked at Genma and he shrugged again, twisting the toothpick in his mouth.

"Are you comfortable interviewing them or not? I understand if not, but if you can't I'll have Yamato do it."

Hana's eyes flickered to Yamato and sure enough, the guy watched her with an unnerving expression that made her look back at Mr. Hyuga.

"Oh no. No, I can do it," she said softly.

If Mr. Hyuga thought something was off in her demeanor, he didn't mention it. He just nodded and went back to listing off the big tasks for next week.

He probably figured she was having a hard time adjusting to being back.

Once the meeting ended, Hana wasted no time in turning in her chair and directing all of her attention to Genma, staring at him in silence as she waited for some sort of explanation.

"What?" Genma asked with a smirk.

"You set up a meeting?" she deadpanned.

"I've got connections," he said, still giving her that insufferable smirk.

"No, you've got Raido," she corrected.

At the mention of Raido, Genma's entire face lit up and he had to fight back the way his smirk threatened to grow into a full-blown grin.

Hana raised her eyebrows.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?" Genma asked right back.

"That look on your face," she said. She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger right in his face. "That smile. I know that kind of smile. What the hell is that?"

Genma laughed softly and twisted his toothpick again.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you because you haven't left your place at all," Genma started. He stood up from the conference table with a stretch that made his back crack. "But uh, I talked to Raido and we're kind of a thing now?"

Hana stared and could have laughed at the way Genma's face started to flush when her silence stretched on longer than he probably would have liked.

Then, just when Genma clearly was about to ask her to say something, she came out with an exhausted, "fucking FINALLY."

Genma's eyes widened and he rubbed the back of his neck, watching as she stood up from the table.

"I've been waiting for you two to get together since we were kids. Holy shit it's about goddamn time," she said with a grin.

"No one ever told me!" Genma argued as they started to head out of the minimalistic conference room.

"No one ever thought they had to!" Hana said back. "Raido's always been a lovesick puppy around you! It's not our fault you're oblivious to his feelings and yours!"

"_Mine?_"

"Yeah!" she said, lightly slapping him on arm. "You bring him dinner all the time, take care of him when he's sick, and just dote on him constantly. Fucking hell, it was getting real old."

Genma snorted and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You sound like Aoba."

"For once, Aoba's not wrong."

Genma just shook his head with an amused smile and Hana grinned at him.

She was glad Genma finally came to grips with his feelings for Raido because it was about goddamn time.

"So are you gonna tell me about this meeting you arranged?" Hana asked once they reached their cubicles.

Genma shrugged again and said an easy, "Mr. Hyuga said he wanted someone to interview Itachi and Shisui but couldn't get anything set up, so I asked Raido to set something up and he did."

Hana ran her fingers through her hair and pursed her lips.

"Shisui's been ignoring me so I don't know…"

"Hana," Genma said softly. He gave her a tiny smile and locked eyes with her. "Why do you think I asked Raido to set that up?"

She continued to mess with her hair and bit down on the back of her bottom lip.

"I don't know. I feel like Shisui is just gonna be pissed."

"That's what Itachi is for," Genma said.

Hana laughed in spite of herself and arched an eyebrow.

"Wow, you really thought of everything, didn't you? Am I that hopeless?"

"No," Genma said right away, voice surprisingly gentle. "But I can see how much you like him and how good you are together. And if I can help you two set aside your differences, then I want to help."

She lingered in his cubicle instead of going directly to hers and cracked a genuine smile as she reached out and squeezed his arm.

"I don't deserve you," she said.

"You don't," Genma said lightly.

She rolled her eyes and Genma snickered, lightly elbowing her in the ribs.

"You know I'm just fucking with you."

"I know," she chuckled.

"What would you do without me?" he pressed, still wearing that shit-eating grin.

It was her turn to scoff.

"Choice words coming from you since it was _my_ fat mouth that got you together with Raido," she quipped.

Genma rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Hana."

She grinned and made her way over to her cubicle.

Now all she had to do was put together some questions for this "interview."

* * *

"I'm surprised Fugaku wasn't harder on you," Naruto said.

"Not as surprised as me," Sasuke said back.

He sipped on his tea and looked around their little coffee shop. It felt like it'd been years since Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all met up there when it really had only been a few weeks.

He had met up with Naruto and Sakura a little after classes ended and it took exactly no time at all for Naruto and Sakura to immediately press Sasuke for every detail about what happened after the whole Orochimaru thing.

Sasuke gave them what he knew.

The rest of the research assistants were likely going to get off with a slap on the wrist, as none of them knew the full extent of what had been going on. Rather, they all had some idea that Orochimaru was experimenting with living creatures, but most of them assumed that meant animals.

Not humans.

As far as Kimimaro, Sasuke was under the impression that the guy was in custody.

Sasuke didn't know anything else related to the case. He didn't know about the school's funding or their position. He didn't know who was going to prison.

Nothing.

All he knew was what he saw with his own two eyes at the scene and the few things Fugaku let slip out.

"Is everyone okay?" Sakura asked. She drummed her fingers on the table and watched Sasuke carefully from where she sat beside Naruto and he averted her eyes.

"As far as I know," Sasuke said.

"Can I just say that I'm like a star in my class now?" Naruto remarked. He grinned from ear to ear and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Because you hit Orochimaru over the head with a car jack?" Sakura deadpanned.

"It was a lug wrench," Naruto corrected, seemingly oblivious to Sakura's annoyed tone.

Sasuke smirked at his two friends and kept quiet as they bickered back and forth until he had enough and intervened.

"I'm guessing you have the topic for your senior project, Sakura," Sasuke said casually.

Sakura's green eyes brightened with excitement and she grinned hard enough that it almost was as bright as Naruto's.

Almost.

"Hana Sarutobi said she stumbled across her senior project by sheer, dumb luck. It's kind of perfect that that's exactly what just happened to me," she gushed. She proceeded to drone on about the piece and how she was going to look into the case and was just over the moon about it all.

And while Sasuke didn't particularly care about the journalism school or the story itself, he guessed he could be happy for his friend.

"What about you, Sasuke? What are you gonna do now that your assistantship ended in a serial killer case?" Naruto asked. He snickered into his drink and Sasuke did his best to ignore it.

"I'm going to graduate and get a job, Moron. Preferably not with a serial killer."

Naruto scoffed, "who you calling Moron?"

"You, obviously," Sakura said with a devilish grin.

"You know what, Sakura?" Naruto growled.

"What, Idiot?" Sakura growled back.

Before Sasuke even knew what was happening, both of his friends were bickering loud enough to earn them nasty scowls from the baristas behind the counter.

Sasuke let out a defeated sigh and waited for the inevitable moment where they got kicked out for the umpteenth time for being unruly.

And sure enough, not even a minute later that's exactly what happened.

Some things never changed.

And surprisingly enough, Sasuke was okay with that.

* * *

"Why the hell do we have to do the interview here?" Shisui complained when he, Itachi, and Raido arrived at a bar not far from the station.

He'd gotten a phone call from the interim chief of police that morning asking him and Itachi to speak with a journalist now that Orochimaru was in custody. The idea was that since the case had been so high profile, that having an interview with the people who brought the killer into custody would help put the city at ease.

Shisui thought it was stupid, but he just didn't have the energy to argue with anyone anymore, so he reluctantly agreed.

But he regretted his decision the minute they walked into the bar. It wasn't that the place was a dump or anything. It was actually pretty nice.

There were just too many people there he recognized because it was clearly a cop bar.

Plenty of people from the station were seated at the small, mahogany bar against the back wall. Some of them drank whiskey, others drank beer, and some of them talked loudly over each other.

But aside from that, the establishment wasn't very crowded, and the booths and tables were clean, and no one was completely wasted and making an idiot of themselves.

So all of that was good.

But considering the fact that Shisui had only been out of the hospital for a day and a half, he really didn't think that going to a bar was in his best interests.

He still hardly had any vision in his right eye, his arm and leg were still sore from where the bullets grazed him, and he ached all over (in body and mind) from the last several days. Honest to God, the last thing he wanted to do was go out drinking with a bunch of guys from the station—especially now that the case was closed and Shisui was supposed to be resting at home before he and Itachi got assigned to another case.

"Shisui, remember what you said to me the other day?" Raido asked, sliding into the booth across from him.

Shisui narrowed his eyes.

"Uh, not really?"

Raido seemed to be expecting that, as he already started nodding his head the second Shisui opened his mouth.

"I figured," Raido started. He looked at where Itachi slid into the booth beside Shisui and then gave Shisui a knowing smile. "You said that you would talk to Hana once I talked to Genma."

Shisui blinked and looked at Itachi directly beside him, only to see his cousin ignoring him and focusing on where Raido was seated across from them instead.

"Well, I did talk to Genma and things worked out really well. So now—"

"No," Shisui deadpanned once he saw where this was going.

"You already told me you would talk to her," Itachi said with a frown.

"I'm not doing this. I'm half blind right now, I have a headache, and—"

He didn't get the rest of his words out. Not because someone cut him off, but because he could see a tall woman with sandy brown hair approaching them through the corner of his left eye.

His heart skipped a beat and his mouth dried up.

This was too much, too soon.

He couldn't do it.

Not after everything he'd just gone through.

Hana walked over to their booth and lingered across from him, standing beside Raido once he slid out of the booth and gave Shisui a sheepish smile.

"Um. Hi," she said.

Shisui's eyes honed in on where she immediately ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her freckled face and he felt that phantom flutter deep in his stomach.

Her hazel eyes flickered to the side and she looked just as uncomfortable as he felt.

"Shisui, you can handle the interview right?" Itachi asked.

He didn't give Shisui a chance to respond because he slid out of the booth and walked over to the bar with Raido, leaving Shisui no choice but to sit there and wait as Hana slid into the bench across from him.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead when he felt a headache coming on, unsure of whether it was from the pain in his right eye or the frustration with the situation.

"We can keep this professional if you want," Hana said quietly.

She sounded so nervous…

"It's fine," he muttered. He took a moment to compose himself, inhaled deeply, and looked directly across the table to meet her eyes.

He noticed how she immediately focused on his right eye and he could feel the corner of his lips twist into a frown.

He knew it looked bad, his own reflection told him that much.

He had a nasty cut going across his right eye, the skin all around it was bruised, and the white part of his eye was currently still red from healing.

Shisui probably should have had an eye patch on or something while it healed, but his doctor told him he would be fine so long as he didn't do anything stupid like scratch at the stitches or rub it in his sleep.

"What happened?" she asked right away.

He could just tell by the way her brows knit together and the way her forehead creased that she thought she was to blame for what happened to his eye, and for whatever reason, he felt the need to reassure her.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said.

Hana tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Try me," she said.

Goddamnit, he actually smirked.

"As much as I'd love to tell you, I don't think I actually can. Pretty sure it's classified," he said.

Hana continued messing with her hair but she nodded.

Shisui wasn't sure what came over him, but whatever it was, all he knew was that he didn't want her to be so terribly uncomfortable.

If they were forced into talking to each other then they might as well be civil.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Actually, I'm okay," she said. Her eyes met his directly and he held his breath. "The Zetsu cells worked. So now I'm a walking science experiment."

He could have chuckled, but couldn't find the strength.

So instead, he tried for a tired, barely even there, smile.

"So are you here to actually interview me or was this your way of cornering me?" he asked.

Hana gave him a bitter smile, one that didn't reach her eyes or even make any smile lines appear on her face, and shrugged her small shoulders.

"A little bit of both. I tried calling and texting, but you didn't answer. I actually was going to give up but Genma and Raido kinda set this whole thing up," she answered without breaking eye contact, signifying to Shisui that she was telling the truth.

Shisui rubbed the back of his head.

"For what this is worth, I haven't touched my phone in days. The doctors say it'll be too hard on my vision if I do."

"Oh," she said under her breath.

Shisui worked his jaw. He wasn't sure how much longer he could deal with awkwardly tip-toeing around each other.

So he decided to just bite the bullet.

Do it quick like a Band-Aid.

"Let's hear it then," he said with a sigh, reclining back into the booth and bracing himself for the conversation he'd been dreading.

He could see Hana bite down on the back of her bottom lip and once again run her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes.

There was a part of him that wanted to reach forward and take her hand to calm her nerves, but the part of him that was still hurt was stronger.

So he didn't move to comfort her at all. He just gave his best Fugaku impersonation and stared her down.

Hana didn't flinch though. She just looked sad.

"Look, I'm not going to sit here and deny what I did. When I figured out that you were one of the guys working the case, I saw an opportunity and jumped on it."

He couldn't help it when he snorted and looked away at that stupid fucking word.

_Opportunity._

Why did it have to hurt so fucking much?

Why did he have to feel the same way he did back when Yumi cheated on him?

"Shisui, listen to me. _Please_," Hana begged.

He locked his jaw to stop himself from saying anything mean and nasty and reluctantly brought his attention back to her.

Her hazel eyes shimmered in the muted bar lighting and he could feel his resolve already threatening to slip away.

"It wasn't malicious like you think. It came from a good place," she paused, seemingly trying to organize her thoughts and looked down at her hands. "I know this will sound self-centered and narcissistic, but I used to write real, groundbreaking stories. My words got a man off death row, brought light to the corruption in Suna, and gave voices to the survivors of Ame. I'm _really_ proud of that."

Her voice hitched and Shisui locked his jaw tighter.

It was so hard to be mad at her when she was all soft like that.

"When I got back to Konoha, I took the job at _Byakugan Times_ to appease my family. They were tired of worrying about me and I didn't want to put them through that anymore. So I grit my teeth and dealt with writing about celebrities and affairs and other meaningless bullshit. And I can't explain what that sort of thing does to someone like me. All I can say is that I felt like a complete and total failure.

"So when Mr. Hyuga announced that _Byakugan Times_ would cover the story, I lost my shit. I wasn't even assigned to the story. I _stole_ it from my friend. And you know what's awful? That's not even the first time I've done something like that. I've always done what's necessary to get the story I needed."

Shisui narrowed his eyes and clenched his hands.

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep his jaw locked for much longer.

"So yeah. We had just hooked up, I saw you in Naka Park, and immediately started scheming. Was it wrong? Yeah. But did I do it to hurt you? Hell no. I didn't even know you. I just knew that you were charming and probably had information that no one else had."

She gave a deep sigh that made her shoulders shudder.

Then she rested her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together behind her neck as she looked down at the table instead of at him.

"And then we started hanging out a lot, and I started to like you. And by the time I realized how bad I had it for you, it was too late. I already was in too deep. I didn't know how to tell you the truth because I was scared to death that you would hate my guts and never speak to me again… I didn't want that and I knew I would have to tell you the truth at some point, I just didn't know how."

"Were you ever gonna tell me?" Shisui finally blurted.

Hana's eyes flashed to his and she responded right away with a sad, "of _course_."

Shisui shook his head, trying to reign in his temper.

"It would have been a hell of a lot nicer to hear it from your mouth instead of Yumi's. That's all I'm saying," he spat out, anger threatening to bubble over and make him lose himself.

Hana's reaction was instantaneous and her eyes doubled in size, almost as if she didn't even notice how irritated he was becoming.

"Yumi?" she repeated.

Shisui huffed, "yeah that's right. She said she read _Byakugan Times_ and found out that you were the one covering the story. She thought I had a right to know and I don't think she was wrong about that."

"…so Yumi really did tell you."

"What do you mean," he muttered with a frown.

"Shisui, don't you think that's a little odd?" Hana asked quietly.

He furrowed his brow and caught the way she stopped fidgeting and avoiding his eyes, and suddenly sat straight up and met his gaze head-on.

"What do you mean?" he asked a second time.

Hana pursed her lips.

"I met Yumi and she was a total bitch to me—as I'm sure you remember me telling you," she said.

Shisui didn't respond to that because he didn't have to. He remembered how nervous Hana had been right before the wedding and he knew Yumi was partially to blame for that.

"I don't want to assume things, but I do think it's a little weird that she said those things to me and then conveniently told you that I was the one writing about the case. I don't know, maybe you guys talk all the time, but it just seems a little suspicious to me that she's the one who got involved," Hana said with that same, disappointed frown from before.

Shisui rubbed the side of his jaw and looked down at the table, unsure of what to think about that.

"Are you guys friends or something?" Hana asked.

He was quick to shake his head.

"No, but she's been up my ass lately. She constantly wants to get coffee or drinks. It's actually kinda weird since she's still dating Mukai," he admitted.

Hana's frown slowly morphed into a glare, only it wasn't directed at him per se, but someone else.

Hell, he wouldn't have realized it had Yumi not been brought up, but Hana actually looked _jealous_.

"Shisui, be honest with me. Would you have been as upset if I was the one who told you?"

He paused, needing to give her question some thought.

He definitely still would have been upset. That much was certain.

But would he have been so profoundly hurt?

Maybe? He didn't know.

"I-I don't know," he admitted.

Hana sighed and looked back down at the table.

"I guess it doesn't matter," she said softly. "What's done is done. I just want you to know that I didn't do it to hurt you. I did it because I was stupid and selfish and I hate myself for it. I wish I could go and take it all back, but I can't. I'm sorry, Shisui. I am so, unbelievably sorry."

Shisui didn't like comparing Yumi to Hana, but sometimes it was too hard not to.

When Shisui confronted Yumi about Mukai, she had apologized too. Only that apology had been more desperate and less remorseful. It had been more of an apology for getting caught, rather than a genuine one for having done what she did in the first place.

But Hana?

Hana seemed genuine. She seemed real.

She didn't make excuses. She just explained why she thought and acted the way she did, and showed genuine remorse.

She didn't cry and make a scene, but her voice was soft and she didn't try to argue to make him see things her way.

And because of that, Shisui actually believed her.

"I believe you," he said.

Hana's pretty hazel eyes shimmered as she looked at him through her lashes, and it took every ounce of self control not to lose himself right there.

"I need some time though," he said quietly as he looked away from her.

He didn't want to see the look in her eyes when his words inevitably hurt her.

"…I understand."

He cleared his throat, still refusing to look at her.

"Do you uh," he fiddled with the clasp of his watch, "do you still want to interview me or something?"

There was a long pause and he risked a look at her to see her picking at her nails, eyes rimmed red.

"That's okay. I'll talk to Itachi over the phone tomorrow or something."

"That's probably a good idea," Shisui said so quietly that he wasn't sure if she heard it.

He looked back at the table, lump in his throat and heat behind his eyes.

He wasn't sure how long they sat like that, but when he finally summoned enough courage to look up, Hana was gone.

* * *

Shisui lied on his bed, stretching out his sore muscles. It felt like his recovery was taking years and his patience was wearing thin.

He couldn't get to the gym and at least do cardio because his leg was still too sore and he couldn't read or watch TV because of the strain it would put on his eye. So day after day he did the bare minimum as he recovered.

And the boredom was going to be the death of him.

So when his phone rang, he actually was a little excited, hoping that maybe it was Fugaku calling to assign him a case.

Only it wasn't. The name on the screen made his mood infinitely worse and put a sour taste in his mouth.

"What is it, Yumi?" Shisui snapped into his phone.

He really needed to just block her fucking number.

"What are you doing right now?" she asked.

He glared at the ceiling of his bedroom.

"Resting. Why?"

"Let me buy you a beer," she said.

He huffed, "I'm really not in the best shape right now to go out."

"I can come over?" she suggested.

He didn't bother trying to mask his frustration. He was already hurt enough about the Hana thing, pissed beyond comprehension about the Danzo bullshit, and so fucking tired that he couldn't see straight.

(Granted, the real reason he probably couldn't see straight was because of the state of his right eye, but whatever.)

"Yumi, what the hell do you want from me? You've been up my ass ever since I got back to Konoha. Is there a reason you won't leave me the fuck alone?" he snarled.

He waited for some bullshit excuse about how she just wanted to "check" on him or how she was "worried" about him.

The answer he got was not at all what he expected.

"I miss you," she said.

He blinked once, twice, three times.

"What?"

"You heard me. I miss you, Shisui. Having you back in the city has made me realize what a huge mistake I made and how much I missed being with you. I wanted to meet up with you tonight and talk about things and see if we could maybe give it a second go," she said.

He was silent, the only sound coming from his room being the squeaking of his ceiling fan.

"I wanted to be romantic but since you barely answer your phone anymore, this is the best that I can do," she added when his silence stretched out longer than she would have liked.

The memory hit Shisui so hard that he almost gave himself whiplash from it.

"_It would have been a hell of a lot nicer to hear it from your mouth instead of Yumi's. That's all I'm saying," he spat out, anger threatening to bubble over and make him lose himself._

_Hana's reaction was instantaneous and her eyes doubled in size, almost as if she didn't even notice how irritated he was becoming._

"_Yumi?" she repeated._

_Shisui huffed, "yeah that's right. She said she read Byakugan Times and found out that you were the one covering the story. She thought I had a right to know and I don't think she was wrong about that."_

"…_so Yumi really did tell you."_

"_What do you mean," he muttered with a frown._

"_Shisui, don't you think that's a little odd?" Hana asked quietly._

"Yumi, how did you find out that Hana was writing about the Ryuchi Killings?" he asked suddenly.

"I'm sorry?" Yumi said.

"You heard me," Shisui said. "How did you find out?"

"…Why are you asking me this?"

Holy shit.

Hana was right.

"You went looking for it, didn't you?" he pressed.

He could hear Yumi sighing before she finally responded with a slightly annoyed, "why does it matter how I found out? Isn't it better that you know?"

He scoffed and pushed himself up into a seated position, staring ahead at the wall instead of the ceiling now.

"You did it on purpose. You purposely tried to dig up shit on Hana so you could throw it back in her face because you were jealous," he said, though he wasn't sure if his words were meant more for Yumi or himself.

"Shisui, I don't… I don't think any of that matters!" she stammered.

Shisui shook his head in disbelief.

She really played him like a fool, didn't she?

"You played me once back when you cheated on me with Mukai and you did it a second time when you got in my head about Hana," he said lowly. "I can't believe you. I can't believe that I actually listened to you."

"Now hang on, don't go jumping to conclusions, Shisui," she tried, clearly trying to salvage what little control she had left of the conversation. "Let's just talk about this."

"I'm done talking to you, Yumi. Thanks for calling though. Now I know you just had it out for Hana all along."

He hung up the phone after that and even went so far as to finally block her godforsaken number.

Once that was done he wasted no time in getting up and slipping into a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt.

Once he looked a little more presentable, he got up and headed to the front door of the apartment.

"Going somewhere?" Itachi asked from where he comfortably sat on the sofa with a book in hand.

"Yeah. I'll be back later. Don't wait up for me," he said on his way out.

He didn't have to say where he was going because Itachi already knew.

And had it not been for Shisui's tunnel vision, he would have noticed the tiny smirk on his cousin's face as he ran out.

* * *

Hana walked the maintenance guy to the front door, already basking in the cool air that slowly filled her stifling apartment.

"I don't know how you survived in this heat for so long," the maintenance guy said with a laugh on his way out.

"Cold showers," Hana said with a smile. "Thanks so much for fixing that for me."

"No problem. I'm glad we had the right part."

Hana politely thanked him one last time, then closed and locked the door behind him once he was out of her apartment.

It only took her a heatwave, an abduction, and a murder attempt to do it, but she finally broke down and asked her father to send someone out to fix her AC, and Hiruzen had been more than happy to assist.

And now that her AC was fixed, she could comfortably sit out in her living room again and not lock herself away in her bedroom.

Which precisely is what she did.

She collapsed onto her sofa and turned the TV on, choosing for the first time in forever to not watch the news.

Every time she turned the news on it was about the Ryuchi Killings, and after that painful conversation with Shisui, she didn't want to be reminded of that whatsoever.

So instead, she opted for a bad reality TV show and absentmindedly watched that instead.

Anything to keep her mind off of how awful she felt and had been feeling.

She wasn't too proud to admit that after she talked to Shisui that night that she had gone home and cried into her pillow.

She also wasn't too proud to admit that she made Genma come over the next day so she didn't have to wallow in self pity completely alone.

But now she was more than content to wallow on her own.

She lied on the sofa and blankly stared at the TV. One of the girls on the show screamed at her boyfriend about his drinking problem and Hana rolled her eyes.

Fucking hell, was this what her life came to?

Sitting alone in her apartment on a weekend while she watched shitty TV?

Then, as if right on cue, her phone rang.

Hana didn't even bother checking the caller ID because she was too busy watching the bad train wreck television show and pressed the phone to her ear, expecting it to be either Genma or maybe Asuma.

"Yeah?" she greeted.

"Um hey."

Hana blinked and pulled her phone back from her ear to see if she was just imagining his voice or if he really called her, and felt an icy shock wash over her when sure enough, Shisui's name popped up.

"Hi," she said after a long pause.

"Are you home right now?"

She pulled herself up into a sitting position and tucked her legs underneath her.

"Uh yeah. Why? Do you need something?" she asked quietly, almost wanting to cringe at how meek she sounded.

"I just want to talk and I'd rather do it in person," he said.

Her heart leaped into her throat and she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Oh," she murmured. That definitely was not what she'd been expecting, but okay. She could roll with it. "Yeah, you can stop by. Just call or text me when you're here and I'll buzz you in. How far are you?"

There was a nervous chuckle from Shisui followed by a soft, "I'm actually already here."

Hana stared at the wall.

Well, that was unexpected.

"I'll buzz you in now."

"Thanks."

She hung up the phone and lingered on the sofa a moment longer.

Well. It wasn't like things could get much worse than they already were, and she slowly made peace with the fact that Shisui would likely hate her forever. So there was no point in being too nervous.

The worst he could do was come up there and yell at her for being such a bitch.

Although, she had a hard time imagining someone like Shisui doing that.

She stood up and walked over to the front hall and buzzed him in, lingering by the door and checking the peephole to make sure it actually was Shisui coming up and not someone else trying to abduct her.

But sure enough, after a moment Shisui stood outside her door, dressed in all black and fiddling with the clasp of his watch as he waited for her to open the door for him. She caught sight of his right eye and saw that it looked slightly better. The white of the eye wasn't completely red anymore, so that was a good sign.

At least he looked like he felt a little better. Maybe that was a sign he wasn't there to bite her head off.

Hana pulled back, squeezed her eyes shut as she braced herself for the worst, and then let him in.

* * *

Hana looked surprised to say the very least when Shisui showed up at her front door.

Her hand was already buried in her wild hair and he could see her already biting down on the back of her bottom lip, almost like she was just waiting for a blow to the chest.

"Sorry my place is kind of a mess. I wasn't expecting anyone," she said.

She ushered him inside and he looked around.

The apartment wasn't much messier than it normally was. Only whereas before she clearly had made an effort for there to not be as many random things lying around, this time there was a plethora of different newspapers scattered across the desk that sat against the one wall with her computer and on the floor around the couch since she didn't have a coffee table.

The neat freak in Shisui bristled, but for the most part, he didn't mind.

He actually kinda liked the fact he caught Hana off guard. It just seemed easier and less rehearsed that way.

"Where do you even get so many newspapers?" he asked lightly.

She scrambled to pick up the papers that littered the area around the couch and he watched with a slight smile as her cheeks flushed.

"Uhm, I get most of them downstairs in the lobby where they're free. The other ones I get delivered daily."

"I think you're secretly an old man," he mused, going to sit down on the sofa once she cleared everything.

He watched the way an embarrassed smile lit up her face and he hummed softly in appreciation.

"Part of being a journalist means you have to read a lot," she quipped. Her hazel eyes flitted to his dark ones. "Do you want anything to drink?"

He shook his head and that's when it dawned on him that her apartment wasn't a sauna anymore.

"Wait, it's actually not a million degrees in here," he said when she sat down on the other end of the couch—plenty far away from him.

"Yeah, I got the AC fixed. Nice right?"

She sat with her back against the arm of the sofa, brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

He wasn't an expert on body language or anything, but he was fairly certain that she was uncomfortable, nervous, and maybe even expecting a fight.

Shisui leaned back and took in her appearance.

She was dressed in a standard white t-shirt that left part of her stomach exposed, and an old pair of sun-bleached jeans that were a little loose around her hips.

He decided he liked her best like that, a little unkempt.

"I talked to Yumi earlier," he prefaced.

Hana winced at the mention of his ex but kept her mouth shut and let him continue.

"I had been thinking about what you said to me, about how it was weird that she was the one who told me about you. I called her out on it and…" he paused, trying to find the right words that got his point across without making him sound like a dick. "…And you were right."

Hana narrowed her eyes.

"I don't follow."

"Yumi didn't have the best intentions when she told me. She wanted to get dirt on you and try to get back together with me," he mumbled. "She was threatened by you."

He felt embarrassed that he ever dated a girl like that and wished like hell he could just go back in time and stop himself from ever dating her in the first place.

Hana didn't say anything, but Shisui could tell by the way she pursed her lips together, arched her eyebrows, and crossed her arms that she was pissed.

"You don't look too amused," he said when Hana's silence stretched on.

But that seemed to do it, his little prompting seemed to have broken the levee

"I just don't understand why someone who looks like _her_ would be threatened by _me_. She's a total fucking bombshell. She's little, has killer curves, and always looks like she stepped out of a fucking magazine spread. And all because I was the one sleeping with you? If she wasn't so fucking stupid and slept with your coworker then she wouldn't even _have_ to feel threatened by me! It's a cowardly fucking move to go in and dig up dirt on the girl your ex is sleeping with all because you want him back now that he moved on. It's bullshit!" Hana snapped, waving her arms around and gesturing at him in frustration.

Shisui inched a little closer in the middle of her rant and smiled softly.

"I know," he said.

"She's got a lot of nerve. She even came up to me when we were both in Yamanaka's one day and _gloated_. She fucking _gloated_, Shisui. She had the gall to compliment me on my articles because she knew she'd already won and had gotten to you first!"

Shisui inched a little closer and nodded as Hana continued to rant.

"I know what I did was wrong but I had every intention of telling you! You would have still been mad but at least it would have been from my mouth and I could have explained right away instead of us fighting at the station and…"

She stopped when she realized how much closer Shisui was and her cheeks flushed.

"You're right. You're right about all of it," he started easily. "She had bad intentions when she told me. She wanted to get back together with me and wanted to one-up you. And yeah, I still would have been upset if you told me but maybe it would have been a slightly easier pill to swallow if we could have just hashed it out right away. You're right about all of it, Hana."

She pursed her lips again and looked down at her hands instead of at him.

"I'm so sorry, Shisui," she whispered. She brought her hands up and buried her face in them. "I wish I had never stolen that stupid story from Yamato. I wish I had never tried to use you. I wish I had told you the truth. I just wish I could take it all back."

He could hear the way her voice hitched and his chest tightened.

"Hey, look at me," he coaxed.

He reached forward and tried to gently pry her hands away from her face but she resisted.

Her shoulders shuddered and he could hear that little hitch in her breath again.

"Hana, please don't cry," he whispered.

He tried again to pry her hands away and was successful the second time around.

She immediately wiped at her glassy hazel eyes and Shisui frowned.

"I didn't come here to yell at you or make you cry," he said softly. He reached forward and cupped her face in his hands, wiping away the tears that fell from her eyes. "I came to say sorry for acting like such an ass."

Despite the tears, she gave him a weak laugh and he smiled.

"I'm still hurt over what happened and it's gonna take some time to work through, but that's okay. All I know is that I want to work through this because I really like you. I love spending time with you, I think you and I complement each other really well, and I believe that whatever we have is worth salvaging."

Her eyes blinked back whatever tears that threatened to keep falling and she parted her lips in surprise.

"Really?"

He cracked a grin.

"Why else would I be here?"

She wiped her eyes and Shisui reached forward, snaking an arm around her waist and bringing her flush against his chest.

His lips met hers in a tender kiss and just for a moment there, Shisui forgot about the Ryuchi Killings, Danzo, and Yumi and only focused on the moment, relishing in the way Hana curled into his embrace.

"Thank you," she murmured against his lips, bringing one hand to rest against his cheek.

He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and savoring the moment.

"You know, just throwing this out there, but I'm actually kinda glad you stole the story," he said when he opened his eyes again.

Hana frowned and asked a confused, "why?"

"Because if you hadn't, we probably wouldn't have met again in Naka Park," he said with a knowing smile.

Hana's soft laughter filled his ears a moment later and Shisui grinned a little harder. Then he brought his hand over her own and pulled it back so he could press a kiss to the inside of her wrist.

Her cheeks flushed and it brought his attention to her freckles and his stomach fluttered.

"I never thought of that," she hummed.

"Mhm," he agreed.

He reached forward and rested his hand against the back of her neck and brought her in for another kiss.

A content little sigh escaped her lips and she wasted no time climbing into his lap and straddling him right there on the sofa.

He took his time as he kissed her slowly, relishing in the contact after what felt like months apart when it really had only been a couple weeks.

He brought his hand up to the back of her head and brought the other around her waist, holding her flush against his body. She rested her hands on the planes of his chest and deepened the kiss, tilting her head to the side and licking at his lower lip.

His whole body thrummed with electricity when she raked her teeth across his lip and heat pooled in his abdomen.

She grinded her hips down and he groaned and kissed her harder.

Her hands went down to the bottom of his shirt and she pulled it off right away before she quickly discarded her own.

She pulled back and brought her lips to the shell of his ear and pressed delicate kisses down his neck.

He sighed and ran his hands down her body, stopping at her ass and squeezing.

Her lips were hot against his neck and she nipped at the skin, possibly leaving a mark. He didn't care though. He just reclined into the cushions as his eyelids fluttered shut.

She came back up to press a lazy, open mouthed kiss to his lips again and he happily reciprocated. He brought his hands up to her hips and squeezed when she grinded into him again and got him to moan.

Normally, he would have taken control by now, but the way Hana took charge and kissed him at a slow pace and occasionally grinded her hips against him to drive him insane was too fucking good to deny.

Her hands made quick work of his jeans as she unbuttoned them and pulled them and his boxer-briefs off with some of his help.

"Not fair," he murmured against her lips when she started kissing him again.

He could feel her smile against his lips, but she made no effort to remove the rest of her own clothes.

She distracted him by slipping her tongue into his mouth and exploring it with well-practiced ease.

He blamed his complacency on the fact that he was still recovering from two gunshots and almost losing his eye, because normally Shisui would have been the one to take charge.

Hana definitely seemed to notice that too because she took her sweet time and didn't even tease him for being so eager.

As she kissed him, he brought his hands up to her back and unhooked her bra, quickly pulling it away and caressing her exposed chest.

She hummed in contentment and finally pulled back just enough to take off the rest of her clothes. Then she straddled him again and kissed him hard on the mouth as she slowly slid him inside of her.

He groaned right away.

_Fuck_, she was so tight and so wet that he didn't think he was going to be able to last long at all.

She rolled her hips slowly at first, shuddering with every movement and raking her nails down his chest.

He leaned back and watched her, way too fucking mesmerized for his own good.

Her face and chest were flushed as she bounced up and down on him, lips parted as tiny little whimpers escaped her throat.

He squeezed her hips and guided her to go faster.

She did and he hissed through his teeth as his head fell back against the sofa, still gripping her hips probably hard enough to bruise.

Every single movement felt absolutely mind-blowing and that just reaffirmed that he would not be able to last that long—not with how fucking deep and fast she was going.

He groaned and brought his head back up, kissing her lazily as he pulled her hips down.

She gasped and brought her hands up to the back of his head and tugged at his curls. But that wasn't good enough for him. He wanted to hear her moan, not whimper and gasp.

He moved to kiss her neck and paid extra attention to the soft spot just beneath her ear. He felt her shudder as gooseflesh rippled her arms, and pulled her hips all the way down so he was completely inside of her.

It got the reaction he wanted because she tightened around him and let out a low, filthy moan that went straight to his arousal.

He bruised the skin at her neck with lips and repeated the motion, pulling her hips down hard so that he was completely inside her with every thrust and after only a few more, Hana's entire body tensed and she tightened impossibly around him and he groaned into the crook of her neck.

She rode out her orgasm, still bouncing up and down on him until it became too fucking much and he came hard, pulling her tight against his body and hanging onto her hips for dear life.

He panted as he came down from his high and was greeted with the sight of Hana's clear hazel eyes looking into his dark ones.

Her eyes flickered across his face and she brought her thumb up to his lips before she pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth.

He didn't even try to fight back to the smile that grew the instant she kissed him there and his heart fluttered when she pulled back and wore a similar smile.

"Does this mean you forgive me?" she asked curiously. She tilted her head to the side and draped her arms around his neck.

He rested his forehead against hers and rubbed circles into her lower back with his thumb.

"I thought we already established that," he hummed.

She chuckled and tightened her arms around his neck until she was hugging him.

His eyes fluttered shut and he smiled, hugging her back and leaning his head against hers.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

He hugged her a little tighter and pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Anytime."

* * *

"This is really good, Sakura," Hana said.

She shuffled the papers around until they were back in order and handed the edited article back to the pink-haired girl sitting on the other end of the sofa.

Sakura beamed.

"Thank you!"

"You didn't have to entertain her, Hana," Sasuke quipped when he walked out of the kitchen with Itachi and Shisui after having cleaned up dinner.

Hana gave Sasuke a dismissive wave of her hand as Shisui sat down beside her and brought an arm around her shoulders.

"I wanted to," Hana said. "Besides, who better to read the piece than the person who was there for all of it?"

"Yeah, Sasuke. Not everyone is such a grump like you," Naruto teased with a snicker.

Sasuke glared at his friend and said something under his breath that sounded a lot like _'fucking idiot.'_

"Ino was pissed that I got to this story before anyone else did for our senior projects," Sakura said. She smirked at Naruto and Sasuke, and Naruto gave her a sheepish smile while Sasuke affectionately rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure she was," Sasuke drawled.

Hana chuckled at Sasuke and his friends and stood up with a stretch.

"Thanks for dinner, Itachi," Hana said.

Itachi leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and nodded with an easy smile.

"You two heading out?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah. I promised Genma I would help him set up for Raido's surprise party tomorrow," she said.

"I still don't get why I have to come," Shisui complained, even though he stood up and started to get his things together.

"Because you're my chauffeur," Hana reminded as she busied herself with putting her shoes back on.

Shisui scoffed but didn't argue with her.

"Well thanks for stopping by," Itachi said.

"I don't know why you're thanking her. She practically lives here anymore," Sasuke quipped.

Hana looked at where the younger Uchiha boy stood over by Naruto and cracked a grin when she saw the ghost of a smirk on his face.

"Choice words coming from the guy who practically lives at Naruto's anymore," she teased.

Shisui and Itachi both immediately erupted into laughter, along with both Sakura and Naruto as Sasuke's cheeks turned bright red.

Sasuke flipped her off and looked to the side, saying a quick, "you and Shisui deserve each other."

"Aw thanks, Sasuke. I think so too," Shisui remarked. He planted a kiss on Hana's temple for added effect and Sasuke tried rolling his eyes into the back of his head.

Hana grinned and said goodbye as she and Shisui slipped out of the crowded apartment.

"Thanks for putting up with him and his friends," Shisui said on their way out.

He slipped his hand in hers and Hana smiled at him.

"I like them," she said.

Shisui snorted, "I'm glad someone does."

She laughed and shook her head. Shisui could pretend to be tough all he wanted, but Hana knew that the guy absolutely adored his family more than anything else in the entire world.

"So when do you head out for your next assignment?" she asked when they reached his car and climbed inside.

"Monday," Shisui said with his lips twisting into a frown.

Several months had passed since the Ryuchi Killings and Shisui and Itachi had been lucky in the fact that Fugaku only assigned them to cases near Konoha. They hadn't actually had to leave the city since Orochimaru and Danzo were put away.

But on Monday, they were being flown out to Kumo to work on a special case there. Hana had made peace with it, knowing that it was just part of Shisui's job, but anytime he mentioned it he always looked so bummed out.

"Ah," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said with a heavy sigh.

Hana arched her eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you sorry for? That's your job."

"I know but still."

She shook her head and leaned across the center console to peck him on the lips.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she said.

He pouted at her and rested his forehead against hers.

Her eyes met his and she focused a moment too long on his right eye. He still had a scar from where Danzo cut him, but other than that, it looked perfectly normal. Had it not been for the scar, you wouldn't even know that he was almost blind in his right eye after the incident.

She kissed him again, softer this time and it drew a content sigh from Shisui.

"I love you," she said before she even had time to think better of it.

Shisui's eyes widened at her confession and he pulled away to better look at her.

Hana slapped a hand over her mouth and felt her cheeks flush.

She should not have said that. Holy shit she should _not_ have said. She looked like such an idiot! What the hell was wrong with her? Why did she think that confessing to Shisui two days before he had to go all the way out to Kumo was a good idea?

She'd overstepped and now things were going to be awkward between them just in time for him to leave for work.

How could she be so goddamn—

"What did you say?" he whispered.

She shook her head and said a rushed, "nothing! I didn't say anything! Sorry, I'm just not thinking straight and—"

"Hana," Shisui said seriously.

She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.

Too late to turn back now.

"I love you?" she mumbled, already covering her mouth with her hands yet again.

Shisui stared at her and Hana honestly considered running out of the car and walking to Genma's. Anything would be better than what was bound to happen next.

Only whatever she expected to happen, didn't happen?

Shisui just smiled from ear to ear at her and cradled her face in his hands and kissed her hard until she couldn't think straight.

"I love you too," he said with a chuckle after he broke the kiss.

Hana blinked in astonishment.

"Oh."

"Yeah, stop immediately assuming the worst, you pain in the ass," he said through laughter.

Hana's lips slowly curled into a smile without her permission and she suddenly found herself laughing along with Shisui despite her embarrassment.

He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth and then settled back into the driver's seat, holding her hand and wearing a content smile.

"I really thought I scared you off there," she admitted after he started the car up and pulled out of the little parking lot.

"Hana, you literally have freaky little regenerative cells floating around in your body after I rescued you from a_ serial killer_. We are way beyond scaring each other off at this point," Shisui said, smiling bright enough to put the goddamn sun to shame.

Hana laughed under her breath and watched him fondly from the passenger's seat.

"Yeah, you've got a point," she said.

Shisui's smile relaxed into something softer, some more affectionate and reserved specifically for her.

He brought her hand up and kissed the inside of her wrist and her heart thudded against her ribcage.

He absentmindedly rubbed circles into her hand with his thumb and she sighed happily.

"I love you," she said again.

Shisui's smile brightened and he looked directly at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I love you too."

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

**_Omg okay thank you everyone who left a review on the last chapter: MiyuKazu, Random Stranger, kankananime123, Kellie, Shi (you didn't seem impatient! I just got delayed haha), CaneVerde, and Siyana!_**

_**So that's all, Folks! It definitely wasn't perfect, but I think I've become a better writer since my very first fic and I'm really proud of this one! **_

_**Please feel free to leave any and all feedback with a review!**_

_**I don't know when my next fic will be out, but it'll probably be a One Piece one! I'm actually leaning towards a MarcoAce one that I've had in mind the last few weeks.**_

_**Thank you SO MUCH for reading! I appreciate it more than any of you will ever know!**_

_**Love you guys(:**_

_**PS - if you're ever bored you can always come talk to me on tumblr! It's bxriles! (also in my profile on here!)**_


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